Firebird's Social to benefit African FRC Team 1874

[Liz C]

As some of you may have heard, the Firebirds, team 433, have been investing a great deal of time and energy in mentoring team 1874, the Amamazians, who had registered as the first FRC team in the country of Ghana and the continent of Africa. The team, comprised of 20 members and 4 mentors, is based in Aggrey Memorial Secondary School in Cape Coast. The team was ecstatic to be able to have the opportunity to participate in what they called “the robotic dream.” Though the team faces distance barriers, their resources were sufficient, considering Aggrey S.S. is similar to what we would consider a technical school. More importantly, their enthusiasm was, and remains, incredible, and though they were originally unfamiliar with the concept, gracious professionalism is truly evident in this team.

Ever since the summer, our team has been hard at work contacting potential sponsors. In early fall, we were elated to find a company who had agreed to donate a large amount of money towards Team 1874’s expenses. To our dismay, the sponsor rescinded their commitment two days before the payment was due and we were left with no choice but to drop the registration for team 1874, who had planned on competing at the Philadelphia Regional.

Though we have faced hardships with this endeavor, we are not going to give up. Instead, we have adjusted our original plans, and are arranging to bring 8 members of Team 1874 to the Philadelphia Regional in 2006 to observe the event in preparation for when they plan to compete in 2007. We continue to stay in communication with their team and though they will not be able to build a robot, we are still sharing information and materials that will eventually assist them in the process.

In an effort to both raise funds for this undertaking and to celebrate the end of the build season with other teams, the Firebirds have decided to host a post-build team social, dubbed the “Firebirds Fiesta”. The event will be held

Friday, February 24 (the Friday after build season)
from 7:00-10:00 PM
at Mount Saint Joseph Academy (visit http://www.msjacad.org/Pages/directions.cfm for directions)

The event will allow teams to socialize and unwind after the six weeks as well as talk about their own experiences in the build season, and brag about their respective robots. Music will, of course, be a highlight of the night. Please refer to the attached document for further information (this includes some more very important details), the registration form, and the permission form. We ask that all teams register via e-mail or mail no later than Friday, February 17th.

On behalf of the Firebirds, good luck during the build season. We hope to see you at the Fiesta!

Liz Campo
Team 433, the Firebirds

[Jay TenBrink]

Liz,

Your team’s efforts are very noble. It is unfortunate that this team will not be able to officially compete this season but perhaps there is still a way for them to get started with robotics while you continue to raise funds.

Does your team or someone you know have a past year’s robot and set of controls, etc. that you could send to this team to use? This team could modify a completed robot to play the 2006 game, even if it could not be used in an official competition. This could be a great way for them to get their feet wet and build confidence.

We were recently given a 2004 robot from another team in our area that has disbanded. We do not currently have all of the controls, etc. but could probably provide the robot if that would help. PM me if you would like to discuss this further.

Thank you for what you have done.

Jay

[karinka13]

Everyone-

Going along with what Liz has already said, I really hope that a lot of you can come to our FIESTA!!! It'll be tons of fun, with good music, good food, and most importantly, good people! And the Amamazians can really use any money we can raise for them. Also, another large part of our mission over in Ghana is to raise awareness for health issues that plague the country, so every little bit counts. The Ghanaian team is more than prepared to enter the FIRST world of gracious professionalism, and we look forward to seeing them as a registered team in 2007.

Hoping to see you at the FIESTA!!!

*can't wait for kick-off*

Karen <3

[OZ_341]

To the Liz and the Firebirds:

I am sure the crew from Miss Daisy will be very interested in attending the FIESTA. Sounds like a fun time and a great cause!!

If you need any help now or in the future please let us know.

Al Ostrow
Team 341

[looneylin]

i think that at our party we should serve pasta b/c it's punny like that ^.^

n our centerpieces should be robots

n our theme should be green mountains! hehe. n random shovels for the decor

i should probably tell u these ideas in person, but i just came up with them while in computer class... so i'm typing them here!!!

lastly, people please come! it's going to be soo much fun b/c i'm decorating! we're going to have a DJ, lights, a fog machine, n a pneumonic ice cream maker!!! it's going to be blast! (n we may or may not serve pasta!!!)

did i mention free food?

[oaktown1188]

Congrats to Firebird's 1874 on sponsoring an African team.

OaktownCrewz 1188 joined forces with a South African team early last year. They make up half of our team and have volunteered to do the website and animation. They will travel to the US a couple of weeks before Nationals, live with us, go to school with us, and we'll travel to Atlanta as a whole team.

Over the next couple of weeks, we're trying to get a webcast going. We've sent them controllers and the OCCRA manual to get them started. We see this as a two to three year partnership before the SA part of our team strikes out on their own.

Keep going Firebirds. Our efforts will spread the word of FIRST to a new continent.

Ducky78

[karinka13]

25 days til the FIESTA!!!!!!!!!!

do you have your registration forms in yet???

[Freddy Schurr]

Can I please have some registration forms or info about this event. Thanks

[karinka13]

all the info that isn't in the first post there by Liz is in the attached document, including registration forms ( please register if you plan on coming so we can get an estimate of the number of people who will be there, which btw is capped at 500).

[Chuck Glick]

I will definiately be attending and i think some more people from 1712 will too.

[IraJason]

Originally Posted by SirCharles982

I will definiately be attending and i think some more people from 1712 will too.

Yes Sir Chuck, several members of 1712 plan to be in attendance. Hope to see everyone there!

[Chuck Glick]

Originally Posted by IraJason

Yes Sir Chuck, several members of 1712 plan to be in attendance. Hope to see everyone there!

nice Ira, real nice...lol

[BandChick]

This looks like a GREAT idea. I know how it feels to come so close you can practically taste it, and still wonder if you ever will. The Amazanians story reflects very closely to that of 1089s. I'm going to bring this up with my advisor & the other kids on my team and see if they're up for it. I'll be there even if they decide they're not interested. Carli will probably come too, but I'm hoping for more support from us.

[karinka13]

19 days!

[Liz C]

Thanks for the sympathetic responses so far - just remember to turn in registration so we can make arrangements for the appropriate number of people plannign on attending (forms are in my first post!)

It's still not to late to register so keep them coming