What to DO??
 

Our schools were closed today due to bad weather. I emailed FIRST about this since today is the shipping date. We are not allowed in our school. DO you think it is alright to ship tomorrow?

Re: What to DO??
 

Honestly, I would break into the school.

You will not be allowed ship tomorrow. Try contacting your district supervisor, and explain the seriousness of this problem. I’m sure they will let you in to get it ready to ship.

If all else fails, a big truck, pare of bolt cutters, and a torch will get you in. At this point in my life, ship day, nothing can take priority over getting the bot’ in the box.

Re: What to DO??
 

I believe an all out attack on your town is warranted. Send team members to the mayors office, the superintendants, perhaps education board members. Go to their homes if necessary. Explain the seriousness to them and I'm sure they will get you in there... legally.

Re: What to DO??
 

Hey, instead of breaking into the school, how about getting the bot to break out of the school? I'm sure you'd win something if your bot can do that :D

Re: What to DO??
 

fedex just told me that they were rescheduling our pickup for tomorrow due to snow in Atlanta...I am calling now...I will keep you posted...

Re: What to DO??
 

I am getting on the phone right now with the Regional Coordinator and FedEx to see what I can do to help out the GA teams in this situation. I did not even think about it when I saw the snow this morning. I will either call the team contact or post back here with a response (hopefully soon). We are shipping from Georgia Tech so that wont be an issue since GT never closes but if Fedex is saying they will have to come tomorrow that is a big issue.

Re: What to DO??
 

Yeah. We're in the same boat as you guys. We can't get into school, so we're in trouble. However, I think it should still be ok to ship tomorrow. The reason for this is because this year, FIRST is telling us to not be lawyers and use common sense in rules. I think this might be one of those times.

Re: What to DO??
 

Ok...now just to wait. An official word should be coming... If you cannot get into your school first contact your teacher sponsor (I assume you have already done this) and then get on the phone with the principal and/or school board. I know this has happened before in other states on past ship days and they were eventually given special dispensation to get back into the school.

Re: What to DO??
 

If any teams in Georgia or South Carolina are having shipping problems please send an email to robotsFirst AT aol.com

Re: What to DO??
 

I don't want to offend you, but this is one rule that always has, and always should be enforced. I'm sure you're honest, but that doesn't mean that other teams are as honest. Teams could end up shipping days later if FIRST allowed this. You could get a letter from the mayor of your town, but whose to say he's not a crook?

When I was on my high school team Buzz #175, the sponsor Hamilton Sundstrand SSI worked out a deal with the town that on snow days, when the school was closed, engineers were still allowed in. Unfortunately, due to insurance reasons students were not. But at least we could get people in and have access to the robot. I reccomend all teams have these type of emergency plans in place.

Re: What to DO??
 

wow...yeah, lots of good advice has been offered...I'll be praying ;)

Re: What to DO??
 

I talked to the lady at FIRST and she stated to set up a time for pickup tomorrow. She stated that we would probably have to get our principal to write a letter stating that we could not get back into the school. It doesn't really matter because FedEx reschedule the pickup. We have no choice. There is no getting into the school because the roads are to bad in our area to even get to the school. I value my life more than our robot.

Re: What to DO??
 

it isn't going to be snowing up there during the regional is it? i don't think I could take that.....

Re: What to DO??
 

It shouldn't be. This is the first snow we've had. It's is supposed to be in the 60's this weekend.

Re: What to DO??
 

We had 2-3 inches this morning and school was cancelled. We called Fedex this morning to confirm our pickup time and they had rescheduled ours until tomorrow. After we explained the urgency they were more than happy to come today and mentioned that they were going to some other schools in the ATL area. . Our robot just left....

Best of luck,

Team 1380
The Steel Dragonz