Greetings FIRST LEGO League Oregon,
In today's FIRST LEGO League Oregon Update we will cover these items:
- Help for FIRST Robotics Team 4418 and Kendrick's Family
- Out of state tournament opportunity in July
- Registration for CITY SHAPER is OPEN
- Team Financial Support - COMING SOON
- Coach, Mentor, and Parent Workshops
- Planning your team for the coming season - DON'T WAIT!
- I'm hearing a lot of names, what do they mean?
If you are new to this email or blog this is the place where you will find all of the OREGON specific FIRST LEGO League information. Coaches and team administrators in the FIRST system for the CITY SHAPER season will be added every Monday until March, automatically. Every update this season begins with CS (CITY SHAPER) and a number, that number lets you know which update it is, if you miss an update you can find it on our blog. We are currently in the Pre-Season planning and skill growing part of the FIRST LEGO League Oregon Season!
1) Help for FIRST Robotics Team 4418 and Kendrick's Family
On Tuesday, the FIRST community lost one of our own. We are heartbroken by the death of Kendrick Castillo, a victim of the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado.
Kendrick was an active member of FIRST Robotics Competition Team 4418, STEM IMPULSE. Our hearts go out to Kendrick’s family, friends, peers, and all affected by the shooting.
For members of the FIRST community wishing to support Team 4418, we’ve launched a fundraising campaign in support of Team 4418 and the Castillo family as they mourn and remember Kendrick and his incredible selflessness and bravery, and they recover with all the victims in their community. Read more about Kendrick and what you can do to help at FIRST Inspire Blog.
2) Out of state tournament opportunity in July
Would your team like to participate in an invitational tournament, but has not yet been invited? Please
Greetings FIRST Teams!
We hope you all enjoyed the FIRST Launch season as much as we did!
Applications are now open for the Lunar Legacy Robotics Invitational, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. This is your chance to test your robot where NASA tested theirs!
When: July 19 and 20, 2019
Exactly 50 years to the day from the 1st Moon Landing
Where: Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
For: FIRST Lego League “Into Orbit” teams
FIRST Tech Challenge “Rover Ruckus” teams
Cost: $250 per team
Application: https://nau.edu/cstl/robotics/
Deadline: May 15, 2019 - EXTENDED to May 22nd!
Questions: Contact Patti Strones, FIRST VISTA (pstrones@firstinspires.org)
In addition to the robotics competition, teams will have the opportunity to participate in professional development sessions and tour historic sites in Flagstaff that supported the Apollo program including Lowell Observatory (where Pluto was discovered) and the “cinders” where NASA tested their Lunar Rover and trained the Apollo Astronauts.
The Lunar Legacy Invitational is part of a year-long celebration of Flagstaff’s role in the Apollo missions. You can learn more about the Lunar Legacy events here: https://www.flagstaffarizona.
We hope to see you this summer in Flagstaff!
Flyer Available Here3) Registration for CITY SHAPER is OPEN
If someone can send me the Oregon specific shipping with & without a CITY SHAPER Kit I'd appreciate it.
Another change is that the Challenge Set is now a separate purchase from the National Registration again. This is because FIRST heard us when we told them that not every team needs their own challenge set! Every team does need consistent access to a challenge set, however; it is completely possible for two or three teams to share one set. The Challenge Set is $75 + shipping!
You will also have the opportunity to purchase either an EV3 MINDSTORMS robot kit or the new SPIKE Prime kit. Both options are good for this coming season, and into the future. Your team may use the robot they had last year.
4) Team Financial Support - COMING SOON
5) Coach, Mentor, and Parent Workshops
ORTOP is happy to begin the Summer 2019 season of FIRST LEGO League Coach, Mentor, and Parent Workshops! To make it easier to find the workshops near you, I've created a new page that utilizes a Google Sheet, and separate Sign-Up Genius pages so you don't have to scroll forever and miss the class that is closest to you or works best for you available time!Workshops in Medford are happening in just a couple weeks!
Workshops in Beaverton start in June.
We are working on a variety of other locations and the page will be updated as they are added.
As always all workshop materials are available for free download on our website!
If you are a teacher and are looking for more options for learning about LEGO Robotics with an eye towards FIRST LEGO League, we highly recommend attending a nearby SuperQuest.
6) Planning your team for the coming season - DON'T WAIT!
While most Oregon teams do not start their FIRST LEGO League season until September when school resumes, organizing what that team will look like BEFORE summer is the successful strategy of many school and club based teams. Some steps to focus on FIRST LEGO League before summer fever whisks away all parents, team members, and energy will help your team have a smoother start while the fall school-groove settles in.
Things to do before SUMMER BREAK
- Identify the returning team members who will continue to be on the FIRST LEGO League team next season.
- Identify new team members! Make sure you invite young people who may not come from a similar background as your existing team members, as they will have a new perspective to provide to the team and may not realize that robotics is something they'd really like to do.
- Make sure they understand the team meeting and tournament commitments
- Make sure their parents understand the parental commitment to the team and the time commitment for the team members.
- It's ok if not all of these team members will actually be on the team next year.
- Determine if another team needs to be started at your location and who will mentor and supervise that team!
- Invite all of the parents on your team (and new parents) to an ORTOP Coach, Mentor, and Parent Workshop! - Put one on your calendar too!
- Make sure you have your funding sources in place. If that includes the ORTOP Team Financial Support Award, get that done as soon as possible.
- If you have your funds, register for the coming season now at www.firstinspires.org
- Reflect on the use of FIRST Core Values by your team at meetings and outside of meetings.
- Take some self-improvement online lessons; We highly recommend the training organized online by FIRST!
- Set a timeline for the fall. Make sure all team members have it before the end of summer!
In a gorgeous state like Oregon, we know that team members are going to be all over the place participating in all kinds of activities for the summer. We know that having any kind of meeting, even an ice cream party is going to be a challenge to schedule. However, if team members can meet together over the summer, it can help build team cohesion.
7) I'm hearing a lot of names, what do they mean?
FIRST is building cohesion across all of the programs, while this has been happening in Oregon anyway, now FIRST is internationally increasing the fun! However, it does mean we have a lot of names being tossed around, and they are all very exciting!- FIRST RISE powered by Star Wars: Force for Change - This is the 4-program theme for this coming year. All of the FIRST programs have a unique game, tied together by the theme overall theme for the season. Together, we RISE
- Star Wars: Force for Change - This is a philenthropic arm of Lucasfilm/Disney. Using the unifying force of Star Wars, Star Wars: Force for Change works to embolden and motivate the next generation of heroes and innovators, while empowering the Star Wars fan community to use their fandom for good.
- CITY SHAPER - The name of the coming FIRST LEGO League game. The table was revealed in April, but now we wait until the Team Meeting Guides, Engineering Notebooks, and Game Rules are released in August!
- BOOMTOWN BUILD - The name of the FIRST LEGO Leauge Jr upcoming season. FIRST LEGO League Jr typically has similarities with FIRST LEGO League. This year the FIRST LEGO League Jr Inspire Model is a Crane.
- SKYSTONE - The game name for the FIRST Tech Challenge level of competition, this game will be revealed in September.
- INFINITE RECHARGE - The game name for the FIRST Robotics Competition level of competition, this game will be revealed in January.
FIRST and ORTOP are both acronyms and we all love our words. If some of our phrases and acronyms confuse you, please feel free to ask - often times we have a very simple answer for you. It also may just be because some of us grew up dreaming of being Jedi!
We are now getting into the last month of the school year. Aside from all the testing and all the summer preparation excitement, we at ORTOP are working very hard to make this next season the best season ever. Please continue to send your questions and concerns by email and I'll reply as quickly as I am able. The websites will be getting updated for the coming season, but if you find a broken link, please let me know! I hope you all enjoy the warmer weather and get a chance to get out and share FIRST and our Core Values with your local community!
Best Wishes,
Loridee
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