2006 Chesapeake Regional

[atomikitten]

Yeah who's excitedddddddddddd?!?!?!?!!!!
If you're coming, tell me aaaaallllllll about it!

[RoboMom]

I have nicknamed this regional the "jet-lag regional". Teams from England to Alaska. Is that 10 time zones?

[phrontist]

Yes. Oh Yes.

Please post in this thread if you are coming. I'm always game to meet CD-ers.

Incedentally, who wants to be part of the FIRST Scouting Network for Chesapeke?

[atomikitten]

If anyone needs help finding hotels in the Annapolis area, post it here. I'll help you, and Mrs. Beatty probably would too!

[atomikitten]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

I have nicknamed this regional the "jet-lag regional". Teams from England to Alaska. Is that 10 time zones?

It might be more than 10. But then again, the time zones in Alaska might be "adjusted" to more closely follow mainland America's schedule. In the kickoff speech, at the beginning, didn't someone say that it's 5pm in England but 6am in Alaska? Oh well, London and Anchorage are exactly 150 longitudinal degrees away from each other!

[RoboMom]

http://mitc.org/first/
website for the Chesapeake Regional, with links to the Naval Academy. This is being updated. I will be sending out more info to all the teams attending.

[Dorienne]

007 is attending, and we are extremely excited for the regional. We've been coming to Chesapeake since its start in 2003, and we are thrilled to know it is still running. YAY! =]]

See y'all there. Look for me, I'll be in a black & gold shirt running around with a pissed look on my face.

[Jon K.]

I wish I was going there again this year. Chesapeake was an awesome regional last year with a lot of great people attending and some awesome competition. I wish all the teams attending this year the best of luck and I hope you all do great.

Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts and the extra amount of money it would cost to ship our robot almost overnight, RAGE will not be attending this year, but we wish we were!

[Wetzel]

I've been to all of them so far, and I wouldn't miss another. (unless school gets in the way. )

Wetzel

[Bcahn836]

Team 836 and I will be there, we can't wait. We always have a blast. This will be our second regional of the season.

[atomikitten]

Originally Posted by Dorienne 007

007 is attending, and we are extremely excited for the regional. We've been coming to Chesapeake since its start in 2003, and we are thrilled to know it is still running. YAY! =]]

See y'all there. Look for me, I'll be in a black & gold shirt running around with a pissed look on my face.

888 has been to all Chesapeakes too! We'll be in red. I'll be the one jumping up and down and acting like a little kid! I think I remember 007. Someone made a pssssst sound at me, and I was like, do you have a pneumatic leak? I know how to fix that...


We'll miss you, 173; thanks for your support!

As for the people who will be there, make sure everyone on the team has proper I.D., and make sure that you have the vehicle request forms filed if you need to. It's the Naval Academy, so the security is taken seriously. The food in the city surrounding is pretty good though. I can't wait to see you all there!

[Sgraff_SRHS06]

We're definitely coming, no questions asked. (After all we're one of the home teams. Probably the more vocal of the two.) If our Board of Ed did not screw us out of $9000, we would probably have either also gone to either Philly or VCU as well.

[atomikitten]

Originally Posted by Sgraff_SRHS06

We're definitely coming, no questions asked. (After all we're one of the home teams. Probably the more vocal of the two.) If our Board of Ed did not screw us out of $9000, we would probably have either also gone to either Philly or VCU as well.

Wow! BOEs seem to do more damage than aid. Well, it's a hard job. A funny tidbit you might get from our BOE:
Mentor: I'm filing the paperwork so that I can authorize this robotics competition as a field trip...
BOE: Yes, this FIRST Robotics program?... That's fine, I just need verification that this is a legitimate organization... Do you have the number of whoever runs FIRST that I can call?
Mentor: Well, the people in charge are Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, and Dave Lavery. Dean invented the Segway, and last I heard, he's trying to make a solar-powered water purifier for some people in the African desert. I hear he's busy. Woodie is head of engineering at MIT. He tends to be hard to reach because engineering tends to be very big at MIT. Right now, Lavery might be out with his other car--which is on Mars. You could try to get them, but I don't think they'd answer.
We don't get help from the BOE, but we have a school booster club of parents and community that are very good to us.

[OZ_341]

341 Miss Daisy has been to every Chesapeake Regional. We love it!!

Thanks to Mike Wade, Pete Baltzell, Jenny Beatty, the Chisms, the Taminellis, MITC and everyone else that helps to put this together each year.

We can't wait!!

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by atomikitten

Wow! BOEs seem to do more damage than aid. Well, it's a hard job. A funny tidbit you might get from our BOE:
Mentor: I'm filing the paperwork so that I can authorize this robotics competition as a field trip...
BOE: Yes, this FIRST Robotics program?... That's fine, I just need verification that this is a legitimate organization... Do you have the number of whoever runs FIRST that I can call?
Mentor: Well, the people in charge are Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, and Dave Lavery. Dean invented the Segway, and last I heard, he's trying to make a solar-powered water purifier for some people in the African desert. I hear he's busy. Woodie is head of engineering at MIT. He tends to be hard to reach because engineering tends to be very big at MIT. Right now, Lavery might be out with his other car--which is on Mars. You could try to get them, but I don't think they'd answer.
We don't get help from the BOE, but we have a school booster club of parents and community that are very good to us.

This is the wrong thread for this but I need to answer.
Actually, FIRST has an administrative and support staff and a new president, Paul Gurdonis. The toll-free number is 800-871-8326. If the subject comes up again, please have your BOE or administrator call and ask the question. It will help spread the word.
The BOE is not the enemy. The goal of all the teams working within a school system environment should be to get the BOE on their side. Help them understand what this means for the students. It's hard work on all sides, but changing the culture is hard work. You all know this is important, and you need to work on letting them know. Invite them to your school. Ask to do a presentation at one of their meetings. Talk about the team mates who have gotten FIRST scholarships. Recognize your mentors. Better yet, INVITE THEM TO THE CHESAPEAKE! Let me know if there is anyone like the head of the school board, who should be on our VIP list. It's all part of the "community" part of FIRST. I know how hard this is, but it is all part of what FIRST is. Let me know if I can help.
ps. I know a team in Maryland that was recognized two years in a row by the school board. Little ceremony with others being recognized. Michael Phelps was there, not because he was an amazing swimmer but because he started a tutoring program. No they didn't give the team any money. No they did come in and "help." But the head of the school board wrote a pretty nice testimonial about the team which ended up in a Chairman's Award submission.