15 minutes of fame!!

OK, so not 15 minutes...but 5 minutes is good too!

Planning is in full swing for the Provincial Championships and this year we would like to try something new. Because the Pilot that Ontario is in (don't forget to provide feedback on the pilot!) has placed more of an even emphasis on Teamwork, Project, and Design we would like that reflected in what people see as well. Much of what is great in FLL is done behind doors in the judges rooms.

Do you have a great presentation that you would love others to see? Wouldn't it be great if it could be show-cased at the Provincial Championships?! Your team didn't qualify for the Provincial Championships? No problem - anyone can send their presentation to us! Check out the details below.

Details:
What: We'd like to show your presentation in video. There are no strings attached and nothing implied, just a chance to show your work to the crowd.
When: submission deadline is Friday, December 17th so DON'T DELAY!
Where: The selected presentations will be shown at the Provincial Championships at UOIT on January 15th!
Why: Because it's FUN! Also, it will be a chance for people to see some entertaining presentations that they would normally never see!
How: send us your presentation in a common video format (mov, wmv, etc.) on CD/DVD or via the internet (Youtube or some other creative way of getting it to us) and we will choose a few to show at the Provincial Champioships. You can email the video to fllontario@gmail.com or you can snailmail it to us at:

FIRST Robotics Canada

P.O. Box 518, Pickering Main

Pickering, Ontario

L1V 2R7

Have fun!

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

Big Changes in FLL this year!

Hello teams,

As we approach our FLL tournament season I just wanted to touch base regarding a few major changes that FLL is going through this year. They are:
1) Pilot change in judging values (the BIG one)

Please remember that Ontario is one of a few regions that has been chosen to be a part of the FLL Judging Pilot. We are very excited about this opportunity and welcome any feedback (good and bad) you may have regarding anything to do with the pilot. For a recap of these major changes please see my email to the coach of your team for more info or email me directly. We're not allowed to post them on a website.

2) Robot strategy change (from previous years)

One major change from previous years that we thought we should point out is that there is no more "stray objects" rule. Please note Rule 18, 22, and 23 in the attached "Rules" document. Some points to consider as a result:

• If your robot leaves base with an object and loses control of it, you don't get it back and you can't ask the ref to move it for you. IT STAYS WHERE IT IS.
  
• If you pick up your robot outside of base while it is still in control of the object you get a touch penalty for the robot touch but you would get the robot and object back in base.
  
• If you are retrieving an object to base and lose control of the object, it stays where it is.
• If you pick up your robot while it is retrieving an object you get a touch penalty AND lose the object (ref removes it from the table).

Questions regarding Judging can go to either me or Calum Tsang (our Provincial Judge Advisor) at tsangc@mie.utoronto.ca.

Questions regarding Reffing can go to either me or Ian Mackenzie (our Provincial Head Ref) at ian.e.mackenzie@gmail.com.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that there will be another practice tournament being held in Kingston - these practice tournaments are a great opportunity for your team. I strongly recommend getting to one if you are able. If you are interested in the Kingston tournament, there is more information at http://kbotics.ca/fll/.

Thanks,

Dave

We need your input!

Hello coaches and kids!

Once again, I'm greeting you with great news from FLL-land in Ontario!

Part of the mandate for our Provincial funding is that we have some data to present to the province when the season is over. To fulfill that requirement, and to also help drive our program to become even better than it is, we have created two surveys. I am asking that you take a moment yourself AND with your team to go over the two surveys. As I said, it will help our program moving forward AND at each tournament we will have a PRIZE DRAW from all the names of the people who complete the survey. There is a coach survey for you to fill out and a participant survey for EACH of the children on your team to fill out.

This is how it will work:

1. BEFORE you attend your tournament, you and the children must complete the surveys (actually submissions MUST be received at least 24 HOURS BEFORE your tournament date)
2. I will collect the data and send a list of names of those who completed the survey to the tournament director at your tournament (this will happen the day before your tournament so make sure you complete the survey EARLY!). Please note that only the names will be sent on to the tournament director - no other data will be seen by the tournament directors so your answers will NOT influence the judges at all :)
3. At some point on your tournament day, your tournament director will perform the draws. One draw will be for the coaches who completed their survey and one draw will be for the participants who completed the survey - I'm going to keep the prizes a surprise, but believe me, you DEFINITELY want to win these prizes!! Hint hint, they could REALLY help you next season!!
   

NB: the participant survey asks for the name of the children and the team's name. We've asked that they enter ONLY their first names in the name field. This information is being collected solely for the purpose of the draw and will not be used to contact the children (there is no contact information requested on the survey). If you and the children would feel more comfortable putting in nicknames that would be fine as well (as long as you know which nicknames belong to which children in case they win).

The links to the two surveys are provided below - please complete them as soon as you can.

Coach Survey
Participant Survey

Thank you for your attention to these two surveys and GOOD LUCK in the draw!!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

AMAZING Financial Incentive Program!!

IMPORTANT: An updated process has recently been posted.  Please read the most up to date post here.

Hello FLL teams in Ontario!

I have VERY exciting news for you today! In the spring the provincial government provided FIRST Robotics Canada with a $3 million grant to be used over the next 5 years to grow FIRST programs in Ontario.

Do you like FLL? Do you think it benefits your kids? Wouldn't it be great if we could spread the word about FLL and get even MORE kids involved?! I just heard today from a coach who had been working in a very under-privileged school in Toronto. After moving through the FLL program roughly 30% of his graduating class went on to advanced Science and Tech programs at specialized Sci/Tech high schools which are very prestigious! 30% is an incredible success story for those kids in that area. And it was largely because of his initiative to bring FLL to his school! You've all likely got an exciting story with your own team; however, wouldn't it be awesome to leave behind a legacy of positive change in even MORE kids' lives? Now you can be part of that!

OK, the details of the growth incentive program are in the two attached documents (one for starting a new team and one for experienced teams like yourselves to mentor rookie teams). Please read them over carefully. In a nutshell however, FIRST Robotics Canada will be providing a grant for new teams to start up next year (NXT and registration paid for) and a separate grant for veteran teams (registration paid for) to mentor rookie teams.

I would strongly suggest that if you have a school/teacher/organization in mind that you invite the interested stakeholders out to the tournament you are attending. Get them to see the event in action and you'll have them hooked for sure! Then they can register their team at the beginning of May, you can apply for the mentoring grant and everyone benefits! If you can't get them to your local qualifier then approach them before the Provincial Championships in January and ask them to join you there.

Once we reach our target # funding will cease - make sure to read everything thoroughly. Please note that neither the Mentoring Team application nor the New Team application will be accepted until after FLL registration begins in May as we need your FLL team number if you are a new team. If you are a mentoring team you will need to include your “new teams’” FLL team number. Only complete forms will be considered. Applications must be emailed in to me at this address and my inbox will provide the time stamp of acceptance.

There is money to be had people!!

New Team Grant
Mentoring Team Grant

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

Sponsorship Opportunity from Apprenticesearch.com

Hello everyone, earlier in the season we announced the sponsorship opportunity from Apprenticesearch.com for teams in Ontario. Many teams applied and the results are IN!

To see the results, click here!

Congrats to everyone who applied and THANK YOU to Apprenticesearch.com!

Dave

3 Great Opportunities!!

Hello coaches,

I just wanted to make you all aware of three great upcoming events in Ontario that coaches or teams can attend in order to learn something or help promote FLL. I have created a little video here for you to see how to register for an event in the FLL registration system in case you want to register for any or all of the following opportunities. Please help us spread the word about FLL and get more children involved in this amazing adventure!

Event #1:
St. Mildred's Robotics Symposium in Oakville on October 16th (yes, THIS Saturday!). Please either go into the events tab in the FLL registration system and search for St. Mildred's, or click here and register for your workshop this way. This event is a coaches' training workshop for coaches only.

Event #2:
Toronto Hobby Show at the Toronto International Centre from November 5-7th. For this event we are looking for teams who are interested in showcasing their stuff as people walk through the exhibits. We're looking for enthusiastic teams who are eager to spread the word about FLL. This could be a great opportunity for you to do outreach, practise your project presentation, and/or just get together to work on your robot missions. You may attend one day, two days, or all three days if you so desire.

There are 3 days to this event and they are all listed as separate events in FLL's system (please use the FLL registration system to apply for this event. If you would like to apply to attend more than just one day, please go back into the system and register for any additional days you wish to attend. There will be snacks provided on Friday, and a pizza lunch on Saturday and Sunday. The times for each day are as follows: Friday: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. This event is for coaches and children.

Event #3:
Robots Rule at the Ontario Science Centre on November 20th and/or 21st. Teams will load in at 9 a.m. The event runs from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 1 parking space is free per team. 2 mentors can attend per team and will receive free admission to the OSC (as will the children on the team). Coaches can spell off each other to take a few children through the OSC to see the exhibits. As with the Hobby Show opportunity you can choose to attend just one day or both days. This event is for coaches and children.

Thank you for all you do! Your dedication is admirable and very much appreciated!

Sponsorship Opportunity from Apprenticesearch.com

Hello Coaches!

I have very exciting news to share with you today! Apprenticesearch.com is an organization in Ontario that matches employers with apprentices and they have chosen to provide 5 teams in Ontario with a $200 sponsorship grant. YOU could be one of those teams! But don't delay - you only have until October 29th to submit your application!

All the information you need is in this document.

Good luck!

Dave

You WON'T want to miss THIS!

Hello coaches!

I hope your season is progressing nicely so far.

I just wanted to let you all know about an AMAZING event that is going to be taking place at St. Mildred's Lightbourn school in Oakville. Their FRC (the highschool version of what we do) team wanted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of FIRST in Ontario with a robotics symposium. The general details are below. Please take a moment to register for a workshop so we know how many people to expect.

Robotics Symposium at St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School (Oakville, ON)

What?
The event will gather together FRC teams as well as FLL mentors and coaches for a day of robotics training and development.

Three sessions are planned to run concurrently for FLL coaches and mentors: "Where's the Value in Core Values?" OR "How do I program this thing?! (beginner building/programming)," OR "I'm ready for the NXT level" (advanced building/programming). These sessions will be run by VERY experienced and successful coaches and you WON'T want to miss out! Please click here to sign up for ONE of these workshops.

When?
October 16, 2010 - The entire event runs from 9 am - 6 pm, but the FLL training will take place from 10 am - 12 noon (more details in the attachment!)

What else?
In the afternoon, there will be an event called The Inside Ride, to raise money for childhood cancer research. After this, there will be a social to network with other FLL mentors and FRC teams.

Who?
We invite all FLL coaches and mentors to come for as much of the day as possible! For mentors who belong to FRC teams attending the event, the FLL training sessions will take place during the FRC breakout sessions, so that you can attend the event along with your FRC team.

For more information about the event in general, please contact Lisa Hines (lhines@smls.on.ca or 905-845-2386 ex. 704) at St. Mildred's. For information regarding the specific training, please contact Dave Ellis (FLL Ontario Partner. Information about the Inside Ride is available at http://smlsrobotics.theinsideride.com

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

Coach Training!

Hello coaches, over the next few weeks there will be a few coach training sessions available for you to attend. I will email these opportunities out to you, post them on my blog and have them posted to our website (www.fllontario.org). If there are no coach training sessions in your area and you are interested in training coaches yourself, please contact me so we can set something up!

Our first Coach Training session of the season is being held out in Oakville and the information is below.

WHEN?

Thursdays nights September 30^th and October 7^th 7-9:30pm

FOR?

FLL Coaches training workshop – John Catricala will cover robot design, build and nxt programming. If you should require some assistance in a certain area please correspond with him so he can be prepared to offer his assistance.

john@ebots.ca

WHERE?

“E-Bots” 220 Wyecroft Rd. unit 101 Oakville 905-337-1299 www.ebots.ca (map with directions)

please rsvp to pam@ebots.ca as space will be limited to max. of 8

NOTE:

(you will NOT need to bring your own laptops or robots to take part unless you require them as we have them)

It's finally here!!

Hello teams,

The new Body Forward game and project have finally been released! You can view the information about the game here if you haven't already! It's a very exciting season and one in which everyBODY can feel connected! :)

I am very relieved now because I don't have to worry about spilling the beans anymore! :)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask as always! I hope to see you on the field some day!

Dave

Only a few more days till kick-off!

Hello everyone,

We're getting very excited about the upcoming kick-off of the Body Forward season. Hopefully you have registered your team at this point and possibly already have your field setup kit in your possession!

Good luck to everyone and have FUN!

Dave

Province of Ontario supports FIRST programs!

Hello everyone,

I hope your off-season planning is going well.

We have some great news to share with everyone! The Government of Ontario has agreed to provide FIRST Robotics Canada with a $3 million grant over the next 5 years to grow FIRST robotics programs throughout the province of Ontario.

This is great news for all of us who believe in the FIRST program and what it stands for and ushers in the beginning of a great era in Ontario's technology movement.

Here's the link to the Province's announcement.

Dave

Product Pricing for next year

Hello teams,

I just heard today that product pricing for next year's season is now out. You can start planning your budget by looking at this site: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/content.aspx?id=16605

Dave