NorCal FLL update - as of 1/23
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Jill Wilker
Jan 24, 2016, 2:04:10 AM1/24/16
to NorCalFLL-announce
1. Is your team aging out or ready
to move on from FIRST LEGO League? FIRST Tech Challenge has
announced a new team grant available for teams of 7th to 12th
graders to get started NOW and which will also go to your next
season team registration as well. Learn more at
http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc/grants
2. PENINSULA FLL Championship will be at a new location this year - the beautiful Burlingame High School in Burlingame on Sunday 1/31. Deadline to complete registration is Sunday 1/24 at 5pm so that we can get the commemorative tournament program book off to print. Registration Details at http://championship.norcalfll.org/peninsula-championship/
3. SILICON VALLEY FLL Championship will be back at Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill on Saturday 2/13. Deadline to complete registration is Monday 2/1 so that we can get the commemorative tournament program book off to print. Registration details at http://championship.norcalfll.org/silicon-valley-championship/
4. Open team slot at Silicon Valley Champoinship: If your team is interested in attending the Silicon Valley Championship (and the team participated in a NorCal qualifier), apply for a slot by sending email to team...@playingatlearning.org AND paying the Silicon Valley Championship tournament registration fee. If your team is selected to participate but then declines, there will be no refund, so don't offer if your team is not able to attend. If your team is not selected to participate, the fee will be immediately refunded. If your team is selected, then you will need to complete the remaining pre-reqs in a couple of days. Deadline to apply is Friday 1/29 at 8pm and selection will be completed by Saturday 1/30 morning at 10am.
5. Q&A with FIRST HQ: We are excited to have Kathy Vachon, our FIRST LEGO League Partner Services Manager from FIRST HQ visiting us for the Silicon Valley Championship. Kathy has graciously agreed to extend her visit to meet more of the Northern California FIRST LEGO League community and participate in a Q&A session at The Play Space in San Jose on Sunday 2/14 morning. RSVP is required and seating is very limited! Details and RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/february-2016-fll-qa-with-first-registration-20992292512
6. Many people each season ask what is the next competition after their NorCal FLL championship. There is no next. The FLL competition season ends at your team attending a qualifier or for the lucky few that advanced, attending a championship tournament. That is the FLL tournament season. [Remind yourself of the FLL core value - what we discover is more important than what we win] There are a few post-season events that are lottery / invitational based such as the FLL World Festival but these are rare and not a higher level of competition.
Some reminders:
7. MOST CRITICAL: In gyms, there is a strict NO food or drink policy . If we do not obey local "house" rules, we lose the site - possibly forever. It is that simple. We do have to have volunteers helping to "police" this - and if someone associated with a team (not just team members but anyone coming with the team) does not comply, a bad core values input will be handed into the Judge Advisor - which could result in the team being excluded from winning any award.
8. We will enforce a "team members only" touching computers anywhere near team equipment. We have ongoing issues with adults and/or youth mentors/coaches who appear to be doing more than guiding their team but instead appear to those around them, as to be doing the work themselves of programming, fixing or similar with the team's robot. If you have your own "real" work to do on your own computer, don't do it in the pits where it could be misinterpreted - keep it in the stands or other non-team work areas. Also for those teams with youth mentors, please do not have your youth mentor "pretend" to be a team member - you are not really fooling anyone.
9. We are not going to allow teams to set up any field setup kits directly on the floor - each must be on a FLL challenge table and the table supported by a table or sawhorses. These are a SHARED resource. The challenge tables must be well supported (and if you use metal sawhorses, please bring cardboard or similar to protect the floor from the sawhorse "feet"). Please review the official NorCal Pit Practice table policy (along with the other NorCal policies) posted here: http://www.norcalfll.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60:nor-cal-fll-team-policies&catid=54:norcal-fll-specifics&Itemid=58
Regards,
Jill & Mark
---
Jill Wilker, Mark Edelman, Playing At Learning, an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit
Northern California partner for FIRST® LEGO® League and FIRST® Tech Challenge, FIRST® LEGO® League, Junior
www.norcalfll.org www.norcalftc.org www.norcaljrfll.org (510) 656-8664 www.playingatlearning.org
Host FIRST® Tech Challenge West Super-Regional Championship www.ftcwest.org
Local FTC competitions for the 2015-2016 FIRST RES-Q season are still happening through the end of March. So, if you want to check out the new JAVA / Android OS / Qualcomm Snapdragon smartphone based control system - stop by at one of the upcoming tournaments and talk to the teams and watch the exciting competition. NorCal FTC competitions are listed at http://www.norcalftc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=303:2015-norcal-ftc-qualifiers-road-to-regional-championship&catid=64:2015-season-tba&Itemid=37 Playing At Learning is also planning a couple of late spring / summer FTC work days / scrimmages along with our traditional Bay Area Maker Faire "FTCquel" competition in May.
2. PENINSULA FLL Championship will be at a new location this year - the beautiful Burlingame High School in Burlingame on Sunday 1/31. Deadline to complete registration is Sunday 1/24 at 5pm so that we can get the commemorative tournament program book off to print. Registration Details at http://championship.norcalfll.org/peninsula-championship/
3. SILICON VALLEY FLL Championship will be back at Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill on Saturday 2/13. Deadline to complete registration is Monday 2/1 so that we can get the commemorative tournament program book off to print. Registration details at http://championship.norcalfll.org/silicon-valley-championship/
4. Open team slot at Silicon Valley Champoinship: If your team is interested in attending the Silicon Valley Championship (and the team participated in a NorCal qualifier), apply for a slot by sending email to team...@playingatlearning.org AND paying the Silicon Valley Championship tournament registration fee. If your team is selected to participate but then declines, there will be no refund, so don't offer if your team is not able to attend. If your team is not selected to participate, the fee will be immediately refunded. If your team is selected, then you will need to complete the remaining pre-reqs in a couple of days. Deadline to apply is Friday 1/29 at 8pm and selection will be completed by Saturday 1/30 morning at 10am.
5. Q&A with FIRST HQ: We are excited to have Kathy Vachon, our FIRST LEGO League Partner Services Manager from FIRST HQ visiting us for the Silicon Valley Championship. Kathy has graciously agreed to extend her visit to meet more of the Northern California FIRST LEGO League community and participate in a Q&A session at The Play Space in San Jose on Sunday 2/14 morning. RSVP is required and seating is very limited! Details and RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/february-2016-fll-qa-with-first-registration-20992292512
6. Many people each season ask what is the next competition after their NorCal FLL championship. There is no next. The FLL competition season ends at your team attending a qualifier or for the lucky few that advanced, attending a championship tournament. That is the FLL tournament season. [Remind yourself of the FLL core value - what we discover is more important than what we win] There are a few post-season events that are lottery / invitational based such as the FLL World Festival but these are rare and not a higher level of competition.
Some reminders:
7. MOST CRITICAL: In gyms, there is a strict NO food or drink policy . If we do not obey local "house" rules, we lose the site - possibly forever. It is that simple. We do have to have volunteers helping to "police" this - and if someone associated with a team (not just team members but anyone coming with the team) does not comply, a bad core values input will be handed into the Judge Advisor - which could result in the team being excluded from winning any award.
8. We will enforce a "team members only" touching computers anywhere near team equipment. We have ongoing issues with adults and/or youth mentors/coaches who appear to be doing more than guiding their team but instead appear to those around them, as to be doing the work themselves of programming, fixing or similar with the team's robot. If you have your own "real" work to do on your own computer, don't do it in the pits where it could be misinterpreted - keep it in the stands or other non-team work areas. Also for those teams with youth mentors, please do not have your youth mentor "pretend" to be a team member - you are not really fooling anyone.
9. We are not going to allow teams to set up any field setup kits directly on the floor - each must be on a FLL challenge table and the table supported by a table or sawhorses. These are a SHARED resource. The challenge tables must be well supported (and if you use metal sawhorses, please bring cardboard or similar to protect the floor from the sawhorse "feet"). Please review the official NorCal Pit Practice table policy (along with the other NorCal policies) posted here: http://www.norcalfll.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60:nor-cal-fll-team-policies&catid=54:norcal-fll-specifics&Itemid=58
Regards,
Jill & Mark
---
Jill Wilker, Mark Edelman, Playing At Learning, an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit
Northern California partner for FIRST® LEGO® League and FIRST® Tech Challenge, FIRST® LEGO® League, Junior
www.norcalfll.org www.norcalftc.org www.norcaljrfll.org (510) 656-8664 www.playingatlearning.org
Host FIRST® Tech Challenge West Super-Regional Championship www.ftcwest.org
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