Apply now for FIRST in Texas grants, kickoffs, registration
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Patrick R. Michaud
Sep 4, 2018, 1:04:33 PM9/4/18
to North Texas FTC Group
It's almost time for the FIRST Tech Challenge 2018-2019 "Rover Ruckus presented by Qualcomm" season! Are you as excited as we are?
This email is being sent out to team coaches and contacts to provide further information about the season. Our previous email blasts and other event news items are available at http://roboplex.org/ftc .
1. Season Kickoffs, Sep 8th
On Saturday, September 8th there will be official kickoff events held at Williams High School in Plano and at Bethesda Christian School in Fort Worth. These events are open to all coaches, teams, and volunteers, but we ask that you pre-register for the event to receive detailed information and so we can keep track of registration numbers. Information about the kickoff events is also available on roboplex at
http://roboplex.org/ftc/ftc2018-kickoff-plano
http://roboplex.org/ftc/ftc2018-kickoff-ftw
2. APPLY FOR GRANTS!
If you haven't done so already, please be sure to apply for an FTC team grant from FIRST in Texas at http://firstintexas.org/grants . FIRST in Texas is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote FIRST programs in Texas, especially by providing funding and other resources to FIRST Tech Challenge teams. The application only takes a few minutes to complete.
The deadline for the first round of FIRST in Texas Grants is September 10th (this Monday!), so be sure to get your application in before then. If you don't receive a first round grant, your application will be automatically considered in later rounds of applications.
There is also information on other available grants at https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/team-grants-faq .
3. National Registration Fees
If you haven't already paid your $275.00 National Registration Fee to FIRST for this season, then please do so as soon as possible! To do this, sign in to your Dashboard at www.firstinspires.org, and then go to "Payment and Product" to get to the Pitsco website for payment of national registration fees.
Note that a team's national registration fee must be paid before the team will be able to pre-register or register for events. The national registration fee is in addition to any event or league fees needed for the season.
4. Competition schedule
We're currently finalizing our competition schedules for the season; we hope to be able to announce the event dates and venues at the Saturday kickoffs or shortly thereafter. Pre-registration for events will then open later this month ... stay tuned for more details!
5. Roboplex and Google Groups
As always, be sure to follow the North Texas FTC Google Group and Roboplex for the quickest access to information and news about FTC in North Texas.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/northtexasftc
http://roboplex.org/ftc/
6. Thank you to team workshop hosts
We've already had two very successful workshops for this season -- FTC9010 "Robotic Rangers" held an excellent training course on Fusion 360 in August, and yesterday the FLYSET workshop was hosted by 8565 TechnicBots, 12900 Schim Robotics, and other area teams (6832 Iron Reign, 8114 Lewisville HS, 12764 RoboVik) regarding chassis design and other tips for successful seasons.
More workshops are being formed; if your team is interested in learning more about a topic, host a workshop for it! (If you don't know about the topic, you can often find other teams or mentors in the area who will be happy to come share what they know on the topic.)
Pm
=====
Patrick R. Michaud, PhD
FIRST Tech Challenge Affiliate Partner for North Texas
Asst Director for Robotics Education
University of Texas at Dallas
800 W. Campbell Rd, FN 2.002
Mailstop FA 31
This email is being sent out to team coaches and contacts to provide further information about the season. Our previous email blasts and other event news items are available at http://roboplex.org/ftc .
1. Season Kickoffs, Sep 8th
On Saturday, September 8th there will be official kickoff events held at Williams High School in Plano and at Bethesda Christian School in Fort Worth. These events are open to all coaches, teams, and volunteers, but we ask that you pre-register for the event to receive detailed information and so we can keep track of registration numbers. Information about the kickoff events is also available on roboplex at
http://roboplex.org/ftc/ftc2018-kickoff-plano
http://roboplex.org/ftc/ftc2018-kickoff-ftw
2. APPLY FOR GRANTS!
If you haven't done so already, please be sure to apply for an FTC team grant from FIRST in Texas at http://firstintexas.org/grants . FIRST in Texas is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote FIRST programs in Texas, especially by providing funding and other resources to FIRST Tech Challenge teams. The application only takes a few minutes to complete.
The deadline for the first round of FIRST in Texas Grants is September 10th (this Monday!), so be sure to get your application in before then. If you don't receive a first round grant, your application will be automatically considered in later rounds of applications.
There is also information on other available grants at https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/team-grants-faq .
3. National Registration Fees
If you haven't already paid your $275.00 National Registration Fee to FIRST for this season, then please do so as soon as possible! To do this, sign in to your Dashboard at www.firstinspires.org, and then go to "Payment and Product" to get to the Pitsco website for payment of national registration fees.
Note that a team's national registration fee must be paid before the team will be able to pre-register or register for events. The national registration fee is in addition to any event or league fees needed for the season.
4. Competition schedule
We're currently finalizing our competition schedules for the season; we hope to be able to announce the event dates and venues at the Saturday kickoffs or shortly thereafter. Pre-registration for events will then open later this month ... stay tuned for more details!
5. Roboplex and Google Groups
As always, be sure to follow the North Texas FTC Google Group and Roboplex for the quickest access to information and news about FTC in North Texas.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/northtexasftc
http://roboplex.org/ftc/
6. Thank you to team workshop hosts
We've already had two very successful workshops for this season -- FTC9010 "Robotic Rangers" held an excellent training course on Fusion 360 in August, and yesterday the FLYSET workshop was hosted by 8565 TechnicBots, 12900 Schim Robotics, and other area teams (6832 Iron Reign, 8114 Lewisville HS, 12764 RoboVik) regarding chassis design and other tips for successful seasons.
More workshops are being formed; if your team is interested in learning more about a topic, host a workshop for it! (If you don't know about the topic, you can often find other teams or mentors in the area who will be happy to come share what they know on the topic.)
Pm
=====
Patrick R. Michaud, PhD
FIRST Tech Challenge Affiliate Partner for North Texas
Asst Director for Robotics Education
University of Texas at Dallas
800 W. Campbell Rd, FN 2.002
Mailstop FA 31
Richard Evans
Sep 4, 2018, 5:10:41 PM9/4/18
to NorthTexasFTC
My name is Eric Evans and I am the coordinator of the El Dorado League. I am very happy to announce that we will be serving North Texas again this year for the 2018/2019 Rover Ruckus season.
For those interested in speaking with me personally, I will be at the Plano Kickoff event on Saturday. In addition, you can reach me via e-mail at eeva...@ferrisisd.org or by phone/text at 972-876-9397.
Currently, the season schedule is shaping-up as follows:
Coaches/Mentors Planning Meeting
Wednesday, 12-September-2018 @ 6:00 p.m.
Ben Barber Innovation Academy - Mansfield, TX
League Scrimmage/Workshop
Saturday, 27-October-2018
Ben Barber Innovation Academy - Mansfield, TX
League Meet #1 of 3
Saturday, 17-November-2018
Location TBD
League Meet #2 of 3
Saturday, 01-December-2018
Henderson Junior High School - Stephenville, TX
League Meet #3 of 3
Saturday, 15-December-2018
Ben Barber Innovation Academy - Mansfield, TX
League Tournament
Saturday, 19-January-2018
Nedderman Hall @ UT Arlington - Arlington, TX
If you are interested in participating in league play or finding out more about, send me an e-mail or find me at the Plano kickoff event or come by the coaches/mentors planning meeting on the 12th in Mansfield.
Best Regards,
Eric Evans, M.Ed.
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