FIRST LEGO League Challenge July Team Blast

FLL Coaches Corners

Calling all coaches and mentors!  On August 15 at  7:00 pm, you’re invited to join us for the first of our monthly Coaches Corners. During these virtual meetings, we’ll share best practices for coaching a FIRST team, provide essential coaching resources, and discuss necessary administrative tasks. Every Coaches Corner will end with a Q&A session, so come prepared to ask your burning questions.

We plan to include a variety of expert guests in these calls including veteran coaches, FIRST Senior Mentor Lori Langley, judges, and referees.  If you have topics you would like to learn about or materials you want us to cover, please let us know!  Email Trisha at tthompson@firstindianarobotics.org with suggestions or questions.

When:  Tuesday, August 15 at 7:00 pm
Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86201087496?pwd=Y29TNGd5eHloQ0FMUTkvM3dUeDdOdz09

House Bill 1382
House Enrolled Act 1382

We did it! Thanks to your continued effort and dedication, there will now be an anticipated $3.5 million available from the state for competitive robotics for schools.

Now it’s time to get to work.  Every school-based team should apply for this money, we are working with the Department of Education and will update you when we have instructions on how to apply.  In our playbook we have a “course”  that outlines what we know so far.  There is a toolkit of resources for you to use to be ready for the application.  You can also use this toolkit to share with other schools to help them prepare.

This is a great opportunity to grow our community.  Contact schools in your area and encourage them to apply for the grant to start an FLL or FTC team.

Training Opportunities

Thanks to our friends at FIRST Nevada, we have some new training to offer our FLL coaches!  If you visit the FIRST Indiana Robotics Playbook, you will find a folder titled FIRST LEGO League Self Guided Training, where you can view and work along with a narrated slide presentation to learn more about robot building and programming.  These training sessions are geared toward coaches, but can be shared with team members as well.

Coming soon!  If you would prefer in-person training, a number of our FRC and FTC teams around the state will be offering this curriculum at their locations.  Stay tuned for more information about these opportunities!

MASTERPIECE Registration

It’s time to start looking ahead to the new season!  The MASTERPIECE season teaser video is available on the FIRST^® LEGO^® League YouTube Channel here.  The season launches Tuesday, August 1st at noon.  Register your team today and check one thing off your back to school to-do list!

MASTERPIECE Season Launch

It’s almost showtime!  FIRST^® LEGO^® League MASTERPIECE launches Tuesday, August 1, at Noon ET when all of the season resources will be made public on the www.firstlegoleague.org and www.firstinspires.org websites.

Students around the globe will shine the spotlight on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) as they imagine and innovate new ways to create and communicate art. Season materials for the Challenge, Explore, and Discover divisions will be available for download as well as MASTERPIECE wallpapers, social graphics, and posters.

Please  sign up for the season launch tune-in reminder so you don’t miss the big reveal!

Consent & Release Form

Good news!  FIRST HQ has modified their Consent & Release Form so that a separate Indiana Form is no longer necessary!  This means that all of the forms your team members’ parents need to fill out are in the FIRST dashboard, and you will only need to print that roster to bring to competition.

Competition Format Change

We are always looking for new ways to improve the FIRST experience for our students.  In that spirit, we are modifying the FIRST LEGO League Challenge Competition format for the MASTERPIECE season, by adding an additional round of competition.

We will have qualifying tournaments the weekends of November 11/12 and 18/19 as usual.  New this year, we will have two large semi-state events at Purdue Fort Wayne and the University of Southern Indiana on December 9.  Teams from those events may advance to the State Championship, which will be held in January.  We are very excited about this change, and PFW and USI are excited to welcome more teams to their campuses!

We plan to announce the full season schedule in early September.

NE Indiana Teams:  Grant Opportunity

Grant Details:
The FIRST®/BAE Systems Team Grant Application period is now open for FIRST Lego League (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) teams.  If you are located within 70 miles of Fort Wayne, you may be eligible. Interested teams should apply via this link.

Important Deadlines and Notes:  FLL Deadline:  August 4, 2023

• Important: FLL teams should not check out or pay for your season via FIRST until you have confirmed receipt of a BAE Systems grant.

For questions, please contact bae.firstrobotics@baesystems.com.

For nearly 30 years, BAE Systems has supported national nonprofit FIRST® to inspire the next generation of innovators, creators and problem solvers. BAE Systems Electronic Systems (ES) sector is proud to continue its support as a national Strategic Partner for 2023-2024 as part of ES Community Investment’s Tech Power* Program. Tech Power maximizes our impact on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education and improving the lives and wellbeing of Veterans and their families.

As you are registering your team, here is an important reminder regarding the FIRST HQ Grant Policy:

“FIRST receives grants from various Donors which are designated to FIRST Teams. These are restricted donations with designations imposed on FIRST by the Donor(s). Restricted grants help FIRST teams cover the cost of FIRST registration and associated materials available through the FIRST Dashboard and FIRST Tech Challenge Storefront. At the end of the season, any unused restricted grants funding remaining in FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge team accounts is returned to the Donor’s account for use at the Donor’s discretion.”

What this means:  If you are anticipating receiving grant funds, you can still register your team, but do not pay until those funds are available in your dashboard. Unused funds are returned to the donors at the end of the season.

Is your team in need of mentors?  Did you know that you can set up a FIRST Mentor Network profile in your dashboard and then your team will be visible to potential mentors in your area.

Visit the FIRST Mentor Network site – https://info.firstinspires.org/mentor-network

After setting up your profile, start posting links to it on social media.  Create a one-pager and share with your local chamber of commerce.  Share it with your local sponsors to encourage mentorship.  Take a flyer with you to local outreach events and hand out to adults.  Create a poster with a QR code encouraging people to sign up to be mentors.  Use – canva to create your poster- printing is inexpensive.

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