Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

- the lead always carries the light in to illuminate the darkness for the rest to follow - lead on - we are right behind you.
Jane

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

you all make me feel so special for being a MI FIRSTer :D

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

I received word that many Lansing legislators have received our emails urging reinstatement of the funding for FIRST. It is vital we keep the pressure on while last minute negotiating takes place.

The latest person we need to contact is Craig DeRoche, Speaker of the House. Please send your emails to him at craigderoche@house.mi.gov, but this is particularly important if you live in his district which includes the following cities:

Novi
Northville
Lyon Twsp
Northville
Novi
Milford

Be sure to include your whole address so he knows you are a constituent.


Craig's contact info is:
District 38
craigderoche@house.mi.gov
Ph: 517.373.0827
Room 166 Capitol Building

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

Just curious, has anything changed over the past few weeks with trying to get this money budgeted back in?

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

Brandon:

For your information, Senator Switalski (Sterling Heights area) and Senator Cassis are already in our camp. In fact, I received an email (June 16th) from Senator Cassis, who is the Vice-chairperson of the Education Committee, and she stated that she be will deliberating with the House on this very issue.

I meet at least once per month with Senator Switalski (my district) and will again discuss this issue at our meeting on August 7th. He is definitely convinced of the value that FIRST has on promoting all the best qualities in high school students.

I don't realistically expect the legislature to find $2,000,000 (per year) for the FIRST program, even though it will pay back Michigan many times over but; I do believe that they will appropriate something much less than that, maybe $250,000 per year to promote the establishment of new teams. After all, this was the initial purpose of the Governor's goal. How many new teams can Michigan realistically establish each year? I think the legislature will fund ONLY new rookie teams for just the registration fee to their initial FIRST Regional. That is my opinion.

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

This popped up in my Google alert tonight, "Michigan Governor signs budgets that increase funding for K-12, universities and community colleges
August 15, 2006 -- LANSING – Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today signed budgets that extend her commitment to investing in our public schools and making education beyond high school accessible and affordable to every student in Michigan. Granholm called the budgets a strong investment in education and the economy...
...Also included in the School Aid budget are $150,000 to expand opportunities for high school students to participate in FIRST Robotics Competitions and $2 million for a new health science middle college program that will allow high school students to earn a diploma and a college certificate or degree in health sciences." http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m...yid-15913.html

While this may not be the amount you had hoped for, it is still a step in the right direction. Congratulations!

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

It is true. We are busy drafting the grant language which will be similar to NASA. It should be finished soon.

Please get the work out to all of the districts that might want to start new teams. Have them contact me at:
Gail.Alpert@ gmail.com

A HUGE THANK YOU to all that sent letters to your legislators. Our grass roots effort definitely helped.

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

Although I'm not a Michigan FIRSTer, I support all of your efforts and admire your perseverance and enthusiasm. All of you are making a tremendous contribution in the efforts to make FIRST heard in our government. Thank you, and keep it up!!!

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

FYI -

The grant process should be in place by next week. They will require an essay, similar to the NASA grant. Teams could apply for both with the same essays. There are 25 grants available at $6,000 for one year only at this point.

The grant covers only rookie teams. So, you MI veterans here on ChiefDelphi need to spread the word to schools without teams - I plan to contact Waterford tomorrow.

There's some kind of fund matching requirement, but as I gather, the match can be made with things of value other than cash, such as materials or mentor's man-hours. You should find that the man-hours alone, when accounted for, will exceed the requirement by at least a factor of ten.

Gail, I'm sure, will be filling in the details soon.

Re: Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled
 

I received info about the High School Robotics Grant yesterday. The application and scoring rubric is available at
http://www.michigan.gov/mde-grants under the "What's New" section.

It is primarily for new teams, but they do state that if there are not enough new teams that apply, they will begin to give grants to established teams.

The first application deadline is September 29th 2006!