The CENTERSTAGE presented by RTX Season is here! A big thanks to our kickoff hosts and sponsors! We also released the full season calendar, including pricing, dates and locations. Missed it? Click here Updated information: Event preferencing will take place earlier this year to help our staff and volunteers plan for their events. That means teams must be nationally registered with two coaches through YPP by October 15 in order to participate in qualifying tournaments.
Event preferencing will take place October 23-27.
This season I am hosting a series of Coaches Corner calls to communicate important information, give season reminders and updates and give all of you an opportunity to give feedback and ask questions. I hope you will join me for our next Coaches Corner on Monday, 9/18 at 7:00 pm. Details are below.
As a reminder, if you missed a team blast, all of our emails are posted on our blog at: firstindianarobotics.org/blog/
If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to me anytime. I can be reached via email at tthompson@firstindianarobotics.org or you can schedule a call with me using this link.
All the best,
Trisha
September Coaches Corner
FIRST Indiana Robotics is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: FTC September Coaches Corner
Time: Sep 18, 2023 07:00 PM Indiana (East)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81696115859?pwd=N05NblZnNmlmeld1YkI0d0k4UXVqUT09
Meeting ID: 816 9611 5859
Passcode: 740963
IDOE Grant
Department of Education Grant Now Open!
This grant supports state-accredited schools in establishing or maintaining robotics competition programs.
Public school corporations with robotics teams from multiple schools must submit one application on behalf of all eligible teams seeking funding. So if your district has more than one team, you must work together to submit one application for all schools/teams.
The grant guidelines and online application can be found here.
Contact TLgrants@doe.in.gov with grant specific questions.
Attend a Town Hall Meeting which will include program updates and Q&A opportunities with FIN Staff.
September 20 @ 7:00 pm
September 21 @ 7:00 pm
September 23 @ 10:00 am
Applications are due Friday, September 29
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.
State Championship and Advancement News
The State Championship is scheduled a little later this year; it will be held Saturday, March 9 at the University of Indianapolis. It is important to note that the payment deadline for World Championship teams is March 21st, and that registration amount is $2500.
We expect to learn how many teams from Indiana will advance to Houston in late December. There were 196 FIRST Tech Challenge teams at the 2023 FIRST ENERGIZE Championship, that number will increase to 224 for the 2024 FIRST IN SHOW Championship, and will further increase to 256 for the 2025 Championship.
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.
FTC Application Deadline: September 22, 2023
Important: 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.
FIRST Mentor Network
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.
New Storefront Items
AndyMark Game Set Orders:
We’d like to share some exciting news on the options for teams to purchase FIRST® Tech Challenge game sets for the 2023-2024 season.
FIRST Tech Challenge Storefront
AndyMark game sets are available for purchase through the FIRST Tech Challenge storefront. This means that teams can use 2023-2024 season grant funding to purchase game sets!
Follow Us
You can find all FTC & FIN news at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FIRSTINRobotics
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstinrobotics/
We encourage coaches, parents, team members and fans to follow us on social media to keep up with all the latest information!