**FIRST EMAIL**/FIRST HQ Closed 7-4-12/U.S. Air Force Leadership Training Program/FIR

[Mark McLeod]

**FIRST EMAIL**/FIRST HQ Closed 7-4-12/U.S. Air Force Leadership Training Program/FIRST/Brandeis Longitudinal Study/2013 Rookie Team Criteria/Lost & Found Items




Greetings Teams:

FIRST HQ Closed Wednesday, 7/4/12: FIRST HQ will be closed next Wednesday in honor of the Independence Day holiday. Regular business hours will resume on Thursday, 7/5/12.

FRC & FTC Mentors Chosen to Participate in U.S. Air Force Leadership Training Program: The U.S. Air Force develops leaders of great character and vision. This summer, a select group of 24 FRC and FTC mentors will participate in a training opportunity to further develop the leadership skills that will help them inspire today’s youth to become the technical leaders of tomorrow.

This group of mentors was selected by a FIRST committee, which carefully reviewed approximately 250 applications submitted prior to the 5/18/12 deadline. To qualify for consideration, FRC and FTC mentors had to be K-12 teachers and describe the innovative techniques they use in the classroom to get students excited about science and technology.

The U.S. Air Force and FIRST congratulate the following mentors who have been selected to participate:

· Christopher Andros, Phoenix, AZ
· Julia Barry, Marietta, GA
· David Beatley, Monroe, OR
· Wayne Borr, Niles, MI
· Mustafa Boyar, Tucson, AZ
· Justin Brown, Kailua-Kona, HI
· Lindsey Cofer, Atlanta, GA
· Daniel Dickey, Klamath Falls, OR
· Clayton Edwards, Ada, OK
· Bryan Field, Jaffrey, NH
· Ty Fredriks, Orcutt, CA
· Aileen Hahne, Annapolis, MD
· Eric Harper, Griffin, GA
· David Hicks, Sun Valley, CA
· Michael Holst, Chehalis, WA
· Brian Huang, Aurora, CO
· Jon Huber, Burnsville, MN
· Ryan Johnston, Ottumwa, IA
· Pam Kraus, Salina, KS
· Mark Nance, Sitka, AK
· Theresa Richards, Pittsburgh, PA
· Luther Richardson, Columbus, GA
· Steven Smitka, Waterford, MI
· Erin Williams, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

FIRST/Brandeis Longitudinal Study: This summer, FIRST and the Center for Youth and Communities at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management are joining together to launch a multi-year longitudinal study of three of FIRST’s national robotics programs: FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge and the FIRST Robotics Competition.

The goals of the study are to examine the impacts of FIRST’s programs by following approximately 300-400 new participants in each program (1000 team members in all) over a period of up to five years and comparing changes in key outcomes (e.g., interest in STEM and STEM-related careers, pursuit of STEM-related college majors and careers) to those of a comparison group of young people who are not involved in FIRST. The study will focus on a nationally representative sample of teams drawn from 10 states: California, Texas, New York, Michigan, Virginia, Minnesota, Oregon, Florida, Washington, and New Jersey.

FIRST and Brandeis will be contacting teams in those states over the summer to solicit their interest in participating in the study. If contacted for the study, we hope that you will be able to participate in this important initiative!

2013 Rookie Team Criteria now available: The 2012 Rookie Criteria has been updated for 2013 and is available at: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...-team-criteria.

Lost and Found Items: If you lost an item at a Competition Event or at Championship this season and did not complete a lost and found form, please email frcteams@usfirst.org with your team number, event at which item was lost, and a description of the lost item.

Go Teams!

FRC Team Support