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

6th Coach Email blast

Hello teams,

Welcome to another wonderful week of FLL!  :)  I have some VERY important issues to address in this email so please make sure to read through each one.
1) Tournament Registration
2) Robot Design Executive Summary - RDES (Robot presentation requirement - NEW this year!)
3) Advancement Policy to move from Qualifying Tournament to Provincial Championships
4) Training Opportunities - don't miss out!

1) Tournament Registration
Tournament registration closes this Friday.  If you have not registered for your qualifying tournament, please do so by the end of this week.  They are on a first-come, first-served basis with some consideration given to geography.  If you are new to FLL this year, please note that the registration you did in September was your "TEAM Registration".  What we're talking about now is your "TOURNAMENT Registration" and this IS separate.  Please go to this page on our site to find the tournaments available.  On a side note, our Ottawa tournament is still looking for teams so if are interested in heading East to the beautiful city of Ottawa for field trip, please go ahead and sign up for that.

2) Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES)
The RDES is a pilot in which Ontario is participating.  In a nutshell, it's something you need to create ahead of time to use during the Robot Design Judging session to provide a structured way for the judges to get to know what's going on with your robot.  There is a document attached to this email outlining the full details of the RDES.  Please read through it and make sure you are prepared.  All tournaments in Ontario, including the Provincial Championships, will be following this new procedure for the Robot Design Judging process.
3) Advancement Policy
Teams often ask about how they can move on to the next stage.  First of all, please keep in mind that the goal of FLL is not to "get to the next level" or "win an award", but to inspire children with respect to science and technology and to ensure they have fun throughout the process/experience.  Each tournament they attend (whether it is a qualifier or the provincials) should be viewed as a celebration of their learning and a chance to learn from the other fantastic teams they meet.

Having said that, here is the information regarding advancement:

For the purposes of advancement to Provincial Championships, teams at tournaments will be assessed against the Champions' criteria and ranked accordingly against the other teams at the tournament.  Each tournament is allocated a certain number of advancement "spots" based on the size of the tournament (ie. the more teams at a tournament, the more spots that tournament will be given at the Provincial Championships based on a standard percentage).  So, if the tournament you're attending is sending three teams on to the Provincial Championships then your team would have to be one of the top 3 teams ranked according to the Champions' criteria.  More information about this can be found on the FLL FAQ page located here: http://firstlegoleague.org/event/judgingfaq    

4) Training Opportunities!
This week we have our last two training webinars for coaches and a fantastic symposium on Saturday.  All training past, present, and future is FREE - all details can be found here.
Tuesday 7 p.m. Online: Core Values and Research Project
Wednesday, 7 p.m. Online: Intermediate Programming 102
Saturday, 9 a.m. Face-to-face: FIRST Robotics Symposium with many workshops planned.

By the way, if you've missed any of my email blasts or don't want to do a search for them in your inbox, they are all posted on my blog here.

Take care and have a great week!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

5th Coach Email blast

For a few weeks now I've been promoting the Oakville Robotics Symposium on the 22nd.  Hopefully you saved the date and are ready to register.  The workshops being provided are by current and past coaches with tons of great experience.  I've attached the list of workshops that will be available to you - as promised, there's something for everyone!  Whether you are a rookie or a veteran, I would highly recommend you attend if at all possible.  This is a mentor-only event so please leave the kids at home.   You may bring your own robot, pieces, and laptop if you wish to build and program throughout the day.

To register for the event please go here, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the FLL registration link.
This is a video walking you through the workshop sign-up sheet if you need it.

Chris Hadfield will also be speaking to the entire group of attendees at the end of the day.  It's going to be a great event you won't want to miss!

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

4th Email Blast to Coaches

Hello everyone,

The big news today is that Tournament Registration is now officially open.  You can find all the information regarding the tournaments on this page of our site.  Some tournaments are using the Team Registration and Events (TRE) system to handle registration (the same system in which you registered your team).  Some are simply asking you to email the Tournament Director directly.  Either way, the information is posted on our site.

The second thing is that I want to make sure that you're all aware of the upcoming training available, both online and face-to-face - PLEASE take advantage of these great resources for you and your team to succeed.  This week we have a session on what to expect with respect to judging at a tournament (tonight) and a session on robot building (Thursday night - NOTE date change).  We have more online sessions next week and the list can be found here.  In addition, we're having a FIRST Robotics Symposium at St. Mildred's Lightbourne School in Oakville on Saturday, October 22nd.  General details regarding that day can be found here but a tentative schedule of FLL workshops are listed in the attachment.  Please take advantage of these training opportunities as much as possible.  The Symposium looks like a great day with Chris Hadfield rounding out the day!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

3rd Email blast to Food Factor Coaches

Hello Coaches,

I hope you're having a great time with the kids so far this season!  Here's your third blast from me this season.  In this blast you'll have info about Team Registration and Tournament Registration, as well as upcoming Coach Training (if you've missed any of my blasts you can check them out on my blog here).

1) The Team Registration system is now closed.  Final registrations are being processed and a grand total will be announced shortly but we have had a HUGE growth in Ontario this season which is VERY exciting!  Welcome to all the new teams across Ontario - there are over 100 of you!!

2) Tournament Registration will open soon.  We're just working out final details on those tournaments and an email blast will come out to you in the next week with final details regarding Tournament Registration.  Keep an eye for that email!!

3) Lastly, our Online Coach Training series continues this week with a workshop on Wednesday evening starting at 7 p.m.  This week's topic: Intermediate Programming 101.  Next week's topic is also a hot one for many teams: "Everything U Wanted to Know About Judging".  Get all the details and tons of other resources (including downloadable archives of past weeks' topics) here.  The rest of the series will be posted shortly.

Have a great week everyone!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

2nd Email Blast to Food Factor Teams

Hello Coaches,

I just wanted to touch base with you on a few things at this time.

1. First of all, please note tomorrow's training session which is aimed at ALL coaches who are interested.  The focus will be discussing the robot game, rules, clarifications, and common strategies used to be successful.  You will need to log in to register for this online training which is starting at 7 p.m.  For more information please go to our Training and Resources page.  On this page, you'll also see other upcoming Coach Training opportunities and resources.  Check back often as it is updated weekly.  In preparation for tomorrow's workshop, I would suggest you watch this 7 minute video on Youtube.  If you missed one of our previous trainings, they will be posted on the website at the same link above (one is already up from last week). 
   
2. Team Registration is almost closed for the Food Factor Challenge.  If you are still recruiting someone to compete, please note that registration closes on Sept. 30th.
   
3. If you are a veteran team and are looking to mentor a rookie team, please email me to make a connection with that team.  There is some funding available if you are interested in doing so.   If you are an FLL team interested in mentoring, documentation regarding the funding is here.
4. Tournament registration will open shortly after Team registration closes.  I will email you, post it on my blog, and on our website when it is open and at that time you can register your team for your tournament.
5. Read your Coaches' Manual - it's your guide to success.  Pay attention to the rubrics and the timeline for the season!

Have fun!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

Only 7 days left!!

Hello teams, with only 7 days left before registration closes we are pulling in our final teams for the 2011 Food Factor season.  We currently sit at 277 teams across Ontario which is a huge increase over last year's total of 229!  Congratulations to all those who have joined this great adventure! 

Tournament registration will open shortly after the Team Registration closes so keep an eye out for a post here and an email blast out regarding that process for you.

I hope your preparations so far have been going smoothly - remember to read that Coaches' Guide thoroughly and keep an eye on their suggested timeline. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dave