Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #11

Hello teams,

Tournament Season is upon us!!  This is a very exciting time in Ontario as teams from all over the province who have been practicing hard (over the past 12 weeks since FLL released the game) come together in Coopertition to celebrate all that learning and compete against each other to see who will advance to the Provincial Championships!  NOTE: This year, for the first time ever, we will be physically splitting Ontario's Championship event into two events.  If you are attending an East Championship Qualifying event and advance to provincials, you will be attending the East Championships at UOIT on Saturday, January 12th, 2013.  If you are attending a West Championship Qualifying event and advance to provincials, you will be attending the West Championships at the University of Waterloo on Sunday, January 13th, 2013.

Below is a set of crucial information for you as you put together the final details for your qualifying event.  Please read it all thoroughly.

 

• Participant Surveys
• Advancement Criteria (read those rubrics!)
• FIRST's Consent Forms
• RDES
• 10 Member Rule

Participant Surveys

Each year we survey participants and coaches to see what impact FLL has had on the children.  This information is VITALLY important to the success of our program in many ways.  PLEASE take 5 minutes to fill out the Coach Survey and please also take the time before your event to have the kids fill in this Participant Survey.  A draw will be held after the events are over for 5 lucky winners from the Coaches and 5 luck winners from the Participants.  Prize winners will be announced and prizes will be mailed out after the draw.  The prizes are indicated at the end of the survey. :)

Advancement Criteria (read those rubrics!)

Please make sure to read (and have the kids read) the rubrics by which your team will be judged.  The expectation is that teams will speak to all of the items in rubric.  Judges should not have to dig with questions to uncover things that your team did in the various areas of their FLL season.  

Teams who advance to the Provincial Championships will do so based on the criteria for the "Champions Award" (the most prestigious award a team can win).  This criteria means that they are the best well-rounded teams at the event.  This could mean that the Robot Performance team does NOT advance to the Provincials.  It could also mean that a team that wins 1st Place Robot Design, 1st Place Project, or 1st Place Core Values does NOT advance to Provincials (if, for example their team only performs at a high level in one of those categories).  Lastly, it could mean that a team who doesn't win any award advances to Provincials (for example, a team who places 2nd in all three Core Award categories wouldn't win an award in a small event but could still be one of the best overall/well-rounded teams at the event).

FIRST's Consent Forms

Please make sure that everyone associated with your team (including coaches) brings a signed FIRST Consent and Release Form.  NOTE: this is above and beyond any trip permission forms your school may require you to have.  Participants without a signed form may NOT be allowed to compete.

Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES)

A reminder that the RDES will be expected in the Robot Design judging session. 

10 Member Rule

Another reminder that your team should be comprised of NO MORE THAN 10 children.  FIRST is very clear in many documents this year that teams with "more than ten team members at an event may not qualify for awards or advancement."  Please avoid disappointment for everyone and adhere to this rule.

I am very much looking forward to meeting some of you at upcoming events that I'll be attending and even more of you at one of our Provincial Championships in January!

Go FLL!

Dave

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #10

Hello teams,

In the following email you'll find information pertaining to:

• Tournament Registration
• Practice Tournaments
• Other Upcoming events and Training
  
• Important Clarifications
  

Tournament Registration:
Well now that Tournament Registration has come to a close I'm finalizing our tournament numbers and trying to squeeze in any last-minute teams to events.  If you're one of those teams who haven't registered for a tournament yet, please register at available events now (NOTE: some events are full and not accepting any additional teams).  Also, please note that if you are WEST of Toronto, you must register for a West event and if you are in Toronto or EAST of Toronto you must register for an East event.  Please look at a map to see where you are situated to ensure you register for the correct event. 

Practice Tournaments:
There are 4 practice tournaments planned for teams so far!  Please make sure to take advantage of these great opportunities for your team to prepare for the official event.  Meet other teams, try out your missions, have a run through of your project - they're fantastic!!  There an event in Waterloo, Oakville, Hamilton, and Toronto!  Further details can be found online at http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/main/practice-tournaments/  Thank you to those running these events for our teams!!

Other Upcoming events and Training:

• 3rd Annual FIRST Symposium at St. Mildred's Lightbourne School in Oakville (October 27th).  Details can be found here.
  
• Upcoming Training Webinars - register and participate from the comfort of your own home!  OR download & watch the video afterward.
  
• Please join us for Robots Rule! at the Ontario Science Centre taking place November 17-18.  Check out all the cool robots on display from fellow FLL teams to University robots and robots that are designed for outer-space!  Regular parking and OSC entrance fees apply.
  

Clarifications:

You received an email from FLL HQ last week regarding information about the Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES) and the Core Values Poster.  As mentioned in a previous email blast #6, we will be expecting teams to prepare an RDES for all of our Qualifying Tournaments and Provincial Championships this year.  It is a way to add some structure and consistency to the Robot Judging session.  You can find out more information about the RDES here.  We will NOT be using the Core Values Poster in Ontario Qualifying Tournaments nor at the Provincial Championships. 
Just a note that came up from a workshop that was held in September at the Kick-Off at Crescent.  One presentation highlighted how teams successfully use "leave-behind" attachments which do a certain task but are modules that are left behind by the basic robot as it goes on to do another mission (for an example, watch this video which was used by The Sentinels (World Champions in 2010, hailing from Ontario!!).  In this video, you'll notice that the robot starts off by shooting out a big attachment which activates a mission model in the middle of the table.  It leaves that module on the table and continues on to do other missions.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdQP8a0pAIE  The reason this came up this year was because the "Robot" was actually defined in the rules this year and there was some confusion over whether or not this strategy of "leave-behind" modules was allowable.  We have contacted game designer Scott Evans at FLL HQ to confirm, and YES, this IS an allowable strategy.  Have fun!
1. In case you've missed anything or want to check an old email, all previous Team Email Blasts from me are archived here: http://fllontario.blogspot.ca/
   

I hope you all have a great week with the kids!

Dave

Dave Ellis
Director, FLL Ontario
FIRST Robotics Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #9

Hello Coaches/Teams,

Welcome to Week 8 of FLL's Sr. Solutions Season!!  In this Team Blast we have the following:

• Tournament Registration
• Training
• Practice Events

Tournament Registration
Tournament Registration continues this week with the deadline being this Friday, October 19th.  I will be making phone calls to teams this week if you haven't registered yet to try to find out what your intentions are.  If you are not planning on competing at an official FLL Qualifying Tournament this year it would be very helpful to hear from you (please quote your Team # in the email).  If you ARE planning on competing but haven't registered yet, please do so as soon as possible and BY FRIDAY at the latest. 

IMPORTANT DATE CHANGE: The Ottawa tournament was mistakenly dated as December 8th. Please note that it is taking place on December 15th.  If you have signed up for the Ottawa event and are unable to attend on the 15th, please let me know ASAP.  You would be welcome at the Kingston event or any other East Championship Qualifier.

Training

• Waterloo Science Frontiers is Oct. 20th 1-3pm in E5-2004 at the University of Waterloo.  Open attendance.  Email Brad Morris (brad.morris.06@gmail.com) if you are interested in attending.
• St. Mildred's Lightbourne School's Symposium is on October 27th in Oakville.  RSVP by emailing frc771@gmail.com
• Online Webinar Schedule is posted here: http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/main/fll-ontario/coach-training-webinar-schedule-2012/ - This week's training includes:
  
• The Research Project: Tuesday, October 16th from 8:30-9:30 p.m. Register here.
• Robot Programming 101 - the Common Palette: Thursday, October 18th from 7-8:30 pm.  Register here.

Practice Events

• Waterloo Practice Tournament: November 10th 9am-1pm at KW Bilingual School. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and coaches have to email Brad Morris (brad.morris.06@gmail.com) directly to get a spot in the practice tournament.
  

• Trafalgar High School on Sunday, Nov. 11, 1:00-5:00 p.m. Registration will be $25 per team, due by Oct. 25.

Cheques should be made payable to Oakville Trafalgar High School.

Registration confirmation is due by Oct. 25, 2012.

Please contact Amy Hamilton at keith.atkinson@sympatico.ca

Send registration cheques to:

Amy Hamilton

154 King Street

Oakville, ON L6J 1B2

Have a great week!

Dave

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #8

Hello teams,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend and took some time to relax with family and friends.

In this email you'll find the following:

1. Qualifying Tournament Registration Details
2. Coach Training Webinars
3. Archived Team Blasts

Qualifying Tournament Registration Details

Tournament Season is upon us and the first step in this process is to register your team for an event.  At this time, I would like to take a moment to THANK all of the Tournament Directors and their crew of volunteers at this time for taking the time out of their busy schedules/lives to plan and execute these events.  They take a LOT of time to organize and teams would not have an opportunity to compete if it were not for these WONDERFUL volunteers across Ontario.  At this time I would also like to thank Crescent School (Don Morrison and team) for their 9 fantastic years of service hosting an FLL qualifying tournament in Toronto.  We are grateful to you for the time you have spent assisting FLL in Ontario in so many ways.  I would also like to publicly thank Angela Naar in Niagara for her efforts in running the Niagara event for the past 7 years.   The long term commitment of volunteers like yourself gives stability to this great initiative called FIRST LEGO League (FLL).  We also thank and welcome some new events in Waterloo and Toronto this year.  It is shaping up to be an awesome tournament season in Ontario!

Tournament Registration is now available here on our website.  You may register for ONE event at this time.  Please register by October 19th at the VERY latest.

IF it turns out that there are a number of spots available after everyone has registered once, a secondary registration *may* open up to allow teams to register for a 2nd "fun" event where no advancement or awards are accessible to the team and where it would just be a chance to participate a second time for fun/experience.
 
NOTE: The province has been split up into an East Division and a West Division.  If your team resides West of Toronto you are in the West Division and must compete at a tournament designated as a West Championship Qualifier.  Conversely, if your team resides in Toronto or East of Toronto you are in the East Division and must compete at a tournament designated as an East Championship Qualifier on our website. 


Coach Training Webinars
A series of Coach Webinars will be available to you in the coming weeks.  We are trying to schedule them on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00-8:30 but there may be one or two planned outside those days/times to accommodate the presenters' schedules if necessary.  You will register online and the actual session is held online as well, so you can view it from the comfort of your own home. To fully participate you'll need an internet-connected computer with speakers and a microphone (or headset).  If you can't attend the webinar we will attempt to record them and you can watch them later.  They'll be posted on our website on the training section located here.  The schedule and presenters are still being firmed up at this point and the full schedule will be posted shortly.
In the meantime, here's the first one planned (for this Thursday evening):

FLL Ontario Coach Orientation Training Join us for a Webinar on October 11 Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/449962430 This webinar is designed to help new coaches understand the basics of coaching an FLL team. Title: FLL Ontario Coach Orientation Training Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012 Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM EDT After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Archived Team Blasts
If you've joined us late in the season or if you just want to check something and have deleted one of my previous emails, I always archive the Team Blasts on my blog here.

Have a great day!

Dave

Dave Ellis
Director, FLL Ontario
FIRST Robotics Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #7

In this Team Blast you will have:
1) Official Qualifying Tournament Registration
2) Training
3) Practice Tournaments

1) Official Qualifying Tournament Registration
Well, TEAM Registration has officially closed with FLL HQ which means we can get down to TOURNAMENT Registration!!

On Tuesday I will be sending Team Blast #8 with links to each tournament's registration.  You will have until October 19th to register for your event (please check out the dates/locations of events below so you can start the conversation with your team of where you would like to compete). 

The following are the FLL Ontario Qualifying Tournament Dates (in alphabetical order based on geography):
Durham: December 8th, Trafalgar Castle,
Halton: December 8th, Holy Trinity CS,
Kingston: December 9th,  Faculty of Education Duncan McArthur Hall, Queen\’s University
Niagara: December 8th, Niagara College
Ottawa: December 8th, All Saints Highschool
Peel: November 24th, Rick Hansen SS
Peel: December 1st, Tomken Road MS
Sarnia: December 8th, Rosedale PS
Sault Ste. Marie: December 1st, Sault College
Sudbury: November 24th, Science North
Toronto: November 24th, Location TBA
Toronto: December 1st, Location TBA
Toronto (TDSB East): December 8th, Woburn CI
Toronto (TDSB West): December 1st, Runnymede CI
Waterloo: November 25th, St. David Catholic Secondary School
Waterloo: December 1st, University of Waterloo, Engineering 5 - Student Design Centre
York Region: December 15th, St. Teresa of Liseux

2) Training
SMLS Symposium
Date: October 27
Location: St. Mildred's Lightbourne School, Oakville
RSVP: frc771@gmail.com

Waterloo Frontiers
The Annual Waterloo Science Frontiers event will take place again this year.  If interested in attending, please fill out the survey at the link below to indicate what days you prefer to attend.
You can reach the survey from the home page of - fll.uwaterloo.ca

3) Practice Tournaments

• Oakville Trafalgar High School on Sunday, Nov. 11, 1:00-5:00 p.m. Registration will be $25 per team, due by Oct. 25.

Cheques should be made payable to Oakville Trafalgar High School.

Registration confirmation is due by Oct. 25, 2012.

Please contact Amy Hamilton at keith.atkinson@sympatico.ca

Send registration cheques to:

Amy Hamilton

154 King Street

Oakville, ON L6J 1B2

• More are being planned - stay tuned!
  

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #6

Hello everyone,

I hope your FLL season preparations are moving along nicely!  It's definitely a busy time of year!  This week's Team Blast is pretty short.

1. Team Registration is closing!  Make sure you have purchased your FSK and Robot (if you haven't already)
2. Tournament Registration Opens soon
3. Training is ongoing
4. Mats are creased
5. Reminders (team size and RDES)

Team Registration is closing!

• FLL HQ anticipates Team Registration (at gofll.usfirst.org) will close by Sunday.  The US is already closed early.  You have already registered your team, but did you also purchase all of your materials at that time?  Your team needs a Team Registration, a Robot, AND a Field Setup Kit (FSK) which is the mat and pieces that your robot will interact with on the table.
• If you do NOT have all 3 of those items you need to go back into the registration system and proceed to the Purchase Materials area to buy the rest of your products.  Once registration closes on Sunday (or earlier) you will NOT be able to buy these items.
  

Tournament Registration Opens soon

• Your volunteer Tournament Directors met with me a couple weekends ago and we went through training and discussions.
• Tournament Registration will take place in the coming week or so - it will be communicated in my next team blast and will be posted here on our website under the "Tournament Registration" link.
• Costs, dates, and other specifics vary slightly from tournament to tournament.  Make sure you register early to guarantee a spot in your tournament.

Training is ongoing

• We just had a very successful Kick-Off and Training event with over 300 participants and coaches attending (check out all the presentations and resources here)
  
• We have another training event planned for Saturday, October 27th at St. Mildred's Lightbourne School in Oakville.  Coaches wishing to make a presentation should contact me immediately.  Training will include sessions from Basic Coach Orientation for those who are unsure what's going on, to advanced line following with the robot (and everything in between).  If there's something you want to learn, let me know and we'll try to make that happen.  Registration for the event is via RSVP email.  Information can be found here: http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/main/?p=4886
• We will also be firing up our Online Coach Training Webinars soon - keep an eye out for that in your next team blast.  They typically take place in the evenings from 7:30-9:00 on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays and you participate through your internet connected computer (speakers and microphone are necessary)
  
• FLL HQ has ongoing training calls as well and you can find them here: http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources

Mats are creased

• the mats come folded in a square box this year (instead of the usual rolled mat)
• they are creased but if you roll it up and put it somewhere warm for a few days (like your car) they tend to smooth out...hair dryers often help as well

Reminders (team size and RDES)

• Just a reminder that your team size cannot exceed 10 members, teams larger than that will not be able to receive awards at events, nor qualify for Championship
  
• Ontario is using the RDES at events this year (Robot Design Executive Summary)...it's a way for your team to communicate with the judges at an event with a formal presentation - more information on the RDES can be found here.

I guess there was more than I thought! :)

Have a great weekend everyone!
Dave

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #5

Well, we have just had our Tournament Director's meeting this past weekend and plans are rolling along for some great events this year.  Please remember that these individuals are volunteers, giving their time to plan and execute an event for your teams.  Make sure to find them at the event and thank them.  The rest of the info for this week's Team Blast is below.  Have a great week with the kids!

Available Training
Updated Grant Announcement
Tournament Registration

Available Training:

• FLL Ontario Kick-off and Training Event - Saturday, September 22nd 2012 (registration for this event is now closed).
• FLL Ontario's Coach call recordings from 2011 - http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/main/?page_id=2323
• includes all training recorded for the Food Factor season as well as other resources listed at the bottom of this page
• stay tuned for a 2012 Sr. Solutions' schedule
• FIRST HQ Coach Calls - http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources
• FIRST HQ is hosting on-going Coach Training conference calls which you can find scrolling down on this page
• this page also has other resources listed on it
• St. Mildred's Symposium
• Saturday, October 27th - more details to come
• Coaches will have an opportunity to attend training sessions similar to the ones being held this weekend
  
• Coaches interested in sharing their knowledge are welcome to email me with their ideas or for further information

Updated Grant Announcement
New Team Grant: Already applied for a New Team Grant and have more kids interested than you can have on a team (REMEMBER, there is a limit of 10 children on a team)?  Great news!  We will be opening up our FLL grants on September 20th to those teams interested in a second grant to add an additional team to your school.  You must commit to entering both teams in a tournament this season.  There will be a limit of one additional grant per school/organization. 
2nd Year Team Grant: If you are a Second Year Team and have not applied for your grant, there is still time.  Again, if you apply you are committing to running a team and entering that team into this year's competitions.
Mentoring Grant: If you are an experienced coach and would like to mentor another coach you may apply for the mentor grant. 
All the grant information can be found on my 4th email blast posted on my blog here.


Tournament Registration
Tournament registration is set to take place during the week after Thanksgiving Weekend in October.  Please stay tuned for the email blast about that.

Dave


Dave Ellis

Director, FLL Ontario
FIRST Robotics Canada

647-225-3283
www.firstroboticscanada.org

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Email Blast #4

Hello everyone,

I know that many of you are returning to school today and all that that entails for you.  I wish you all the best as your new school year starts off! 

REGISTRATION
We are very excited about this year's FLL season as it marks the 10th year that Ontario has been participating in FLL!  Make sure to be a part of the excitement this year!  I just wanted to let you all know that if you haven't registered yet for the FLL season that you are not too late!  The game and research project have been released already (released August 28th this year) and it looks like another great theme!! 

Please note that if you haven't registered already, Team Registration closes at the end of September.  We have found that teams do much better the earlier they start so if you are still planning on registering, don't delay - Register Today! 

GRANTS
If last year was your first year participating in FLL I have great news for you.  There are a limited number of 2nd Year FLL grants available to you if you register and apply quickly.  The application to apply for the grant can be downloaded from here.  Preference will be given to those teams who received a New Team Grant last year but the door will be opened to all 2nd year teams who apply after September 10th.

If you know of someone who might be interested in starting a new team, feel free to have them register and apply for a "New Team Grant" (we have just been given the go ahead to release 30 more grants since we already handed out the previous 60!!  Help us reach more kids and get to 350 or more teams in Ontario this year!!

TRAINING
In addition, I wanted to let you know about Coach Training that is coming up: 
• There is a series of Coach Calls straight from HQ in New Hampshire which you can either tune into live or download for your MP3 player.  You can view the series outline/dates (among other resources) here: http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources
• We will also be hosting some Ontario-based Coach Training Webinars (stay tuned for more details).
• We have also scheduled two face-to-face training sessions for teams to attend.  One is coming up in a few weeks (September 22nd) at Crescent School in Toronto (2365 Bayview Avenue  Toronto, ON).  It's going to be a great day and the kids can come too!!  Leave the day with a couple missions completed!  Register here.
• The second face-to-face training session will be on October 27th in Oakville (more details to follow but mark your calendar and plan to attend!)

TOURNAMENTS
Tournament registration will be open in early October after Team Registration has closed.  Qualifying Tournaments across Ontario take place on weekends in November and December and you need to compete in one of these events in order to qualify for the Provincial Championships which take place in January.  Each tournament has a fee which can be up to $150 and includes lunch and awards for the teams.  Many tournaments are looking for volunteers so if you know someone who might be interested in helping out, please email the Tournament Director listed to indicate your interest.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.  Have a great day!

Dave

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #3

Hello Teams,

We are hours away from the official launch of the game and project for the 2012 FLL Sr. Solutions' season and we couldn't be more excited about this upcoming season!  Did you know it's our 10th anniversary of FIRST LEGO League in Ontario?!  That's a major milestone for us and we have plans to celebrate - more on that later!

Speaking of celebrating, please make sure to bring as many members of your team (coaches and kids) to join us for our 1st Annual FLL Kick-Off and Training event being held on Saturday, September 22nd at Crescent School in Toronto.  The tentative schedule of the day can be found here.  We will have an overview of the game and project to clarify any questions, many talented presenters including several past Provincial Champions leading a comprehensive series of workshops, and we have a long period of time blocked off at the end of the day for your team to work on actually building and programming your robot to accomplish some missions for this year's game before you leave!  That's right, leave with a working robot!  Oh, and did I mention that there will be food...lunch is on us!  AND it gets better, if you sign up today you'll get a set of steak knives ABSOLUTELY free!  OK, no steak knives...but there WILL be cake!!  Cake's good too!

Seriously though, please DO join us for what is shaping up to be a fantastic day of mingling, asking questions, learning, and playing with LEGO! 

To help us plan for numbers, I just ask that you please fill out this simple 2-minute survey to let us know how many people are coming from your team (yes - the kids should come too!!).

Thanks!  Can't wait to see you all at the event!

Dave

Sr. Solutions 2012 Team Blast #2

Hello Coaches,

I hope your summer is going well so far and you're enjoying the warm weather.

We are very excited about our upcoming season which will launch in just over a month!  We are planning a Kick-Off event for Saturday, September 22nd in Toronto.  At the kick off event we will go over the game in detail and answer questions pertaining to the missions (as best we can).  We are also planning to have a training component to the day where you can bring your team of kids (or as many as you can transport) to the event with your laptop and robot and come away with a pretty decent chassis, some knowledge of programming and building techniques, and perhaps even some missions started!

Along those lines, we are looking for experienced coaches who would be willing to present at this event to small groups of coaches/FLL team members.  I would like to have a beginner workshop on basic building and programming.  I would also like to have an intermediate programming group to teach more advanced concepts and an intermediate building group to teach about modular design and universal attachments.  If you would be willing and are free to teach others and share your knowledge/experience, I would love to hear from you!  Send me an email back or call me and we can discuss further.

More details to follow but for now, please mark you calendars with that date and plan to be in Toronto for the day to learn about FIRST LEGO League and the NXT robotics platform.

Have a great rest of summer!

Dave

Sr. Solutions Team Blast #1

Hello everyone,

As we close out the Food Factor season of FLL with last week's World Festival in St. Louis, we are immediately looking to FLL registration opening again on Monday, May 7th at 12 p.m for the 2012 Sr. Solutions' Season! 

It's very exciting to note that this will be FLL Ontario's 10-year anniversary and is an exciting time to join the movement of changing our culture to one in which Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) is celebrated and where becoming a technology hero is something to which our kids will aspire!

To join the movement and register your team, on May 7th go to: https://gofll.usfirst.org/.  Keep in mind that sometimes the registration system is overloaded with registrations right at noon and persistence and/or patience may be required. :)

I am very excited to let you know that once again, FIRST Robotics Canada will be offering grants to support the growth of new teams.  If you are interested in starting an FLL team at your school or organizations, please review "How to start an FLL team".  There are additional links on that page which outlines time commitments and costs.

To receive the grant money to support your new team, please review these instructions.

The actual document you need to submit to receive the funding can be downloaded from here.  Grants will be administered in a first-come first served manner and it is anticipated that they will go fast.

There will also be limited (30) grants for existing FLL and/or FRC teams to mentor a new FLL team so if you're an existing FLL team from one of our previous years and want to get a neighbouring school or community group involved and would like some money for your own team, FIRST Robotics Canada has set aside thirty $250 grants for FLL or FRC teams who would like to receive this grant (expectations of you as a mentor are outlined in the FLL Mentor Application and the FRC Mentor Application). 

There will also be grants for Jr. FLL (for kids 6-9 years old) which will open for registration in August - for more information on Jr. FLL, please see www.jrfirstlegoleague.org.  Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and/or FLL Ontario's Blog in order to receive immediate updates on the FLL and Jr. FLL funding as it becomes available.

Go FIRST!

Dave

Dave Ellis
Director, FLL Ontario
FIRST Robotics Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org