FLL Challenge Judges needed - biggest need is Sunday Feb 22nd in Tracy

[Jill Wilker]

FLL Explore Community -

Your help is needed!

If your team is planning on participating in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge program (the next FIRST program up from Explore),  a great way to prepare is to sign up to be a JUDGE BEFORE your team moves up.  Once your team is participating in the FLL Challenge program, you will NOT be allowed to Judge as all FLL Challenge Judges must be unaffiliated with a current season team. So doing it now is the only way to learn more about the Judging process.

More information about the final events of the season are all at https://www.playingatlearning.org/events/   and will be from this weekend (Feb 22nd) through May 2.

We have the biggest need for this Sunday Feb 22nd at the FLL Championship in Tracy if you can help spread the word.  To sign up visit https://my.firstinspires.org/Volunteers/Wizard/Search/2?EventId=75854   [you will need an account on firstinspires.org ]     We need adults to serve as Judges but also have a lot of roles that can be filled by a high schooler.  Each volunteer must sign themselves up - you can not do it for them.

There are 2 primary areas of Judging :  Innovation Project and Robot Design.  We also add a Core Values / Lead Judge to help with asking questions and looking at the Core Values side.  The roles do not require specialized knowledge and there is easy to complete online training (less than 2 hours to complete) and certification available.  Volunteering is an all day commitment but you will get fed lunch and snacks and beverages. 

If you know anyone who is interested in volunteering or learning more about FIRST LEGO League Challenge, please share this email. Volunteering as a Judge is an amazing opportunity to learn about the program.

All FLL Challenge tournaments are open to the public to go check out the robot game and talk to the teams in their pit area.  Judging is only open to team members and is the only role that will give you clear insight on what the teams have done this season and provide an understanding of how they are evaluated.

Reminder - Judges (and Referees) are not allowed to be affiliated with any 2025 registered FLL Challenge team  (independent if they are at that event or not). 

Questions, you can reach out to me at fll-ch...@playingatlearning.org

We have a PDF flyer that you can distribute available at  https://drive.google.com/file/d/12b9pSZI17glOzJ7MTjSY3UCQcM8P__qH/view?usp=sharing

Have issues in signing up to volunteer?  Nicki can help walk you through the process by filling out this volunteer interest form: https://forms.gle/K5U66pznYPdMiJtf7

Please help by sharing this message with your team parents,  community and colleagues!

Jill