IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST/Season Information and Updates
Greetings Teams:
We have some important information to share with you below:
Unrestricted Regional Event Registration Reminder
Registration for remaining regional events will open tomorrow, November 14, at 12:00 Noon EST. Please go to the Team Information Management System (TIMS) located at www.my.usfirst.org to register.
2004 Program Book
The 2004 Program Book development is under way, and we need you to carefully review your team’s information to be sure it is accurate. All team information must be correct and up to date on the TIMS by no later than December 5th, 2003 in order to be included in the program books. This information includes:
- Team Name (please remember that the main Team Name is how your team name will read in FIRST literature including the program book, and on the FIRST web site. The short team name will be used on the scoring board at competitions. “TIP”: If you have a sponsor(s) you will want to give credit by noting them in your short team name! For 2004 NASA Regional, NASA Space, NASA Center, Virginia Business Education Partnership grant recipients, FIRST will internally make designations to the short team name.
- Sponsor(s)
- Team Motto
- Robot Name
- Name of School
- State/Province (in Canada or Brazil)
- Rookie Year
All this information will be included in the Team Spotlight section of the Regional Supplements for each event that your team attends. We regret that due to space constraints team logos will no longer be a part of the team spotlights.
FIRST Scholarships
Did you know that by participating on a FIRST Robotics Team high school juniors and seniors are eligible to receive one of over 100 scholarships from top colleges and universities in the US and Canada? To learn more, and to apply, check out the FIRST Scholarship Program on the FIRST website at http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/scholsh.htm
Best Buy Grant Opportunity
The Best Buy Children’s Foundation has announced plans to award a total of $3 million in grants to K-12 schools to support the use of technology in teaching. Through a new program called te@ch, all accredited, public and private K-12 schools located within 25 miles of a Best Buy store are eligible to apply. The grants, worth $2,500 each, will be awarded to 1,200 schools to help them enhance or sustain existing technology education programs.
If your school would like to apply for one of these grants to help your FIRST team, please visit the Best Buy Children’s Foundation te@ch site at: http://communications.bestbuy.com/communityrelations/teach.asp Applications will be accepted until December 31, 2003.
Mentorship
Mentorship is a key element to a successful season. Many of you have already added your team to the list of “'Teams willing to be mentors” and “Teams that would like a mentor” via the Team Information Management System (www.my.usfirst.org).
If you are a team willing to mentor and have not yet added your name, please go to the system and do so today. Likewise, if you are in need of a mentor, go to the registration system and add your team’s name where indicated. Each week we generate a list that cross-references and notifies teams needing a mentor and those willing to mentor. Many of you have already reported positive feedback on this process with new mentorships underway!
Tip! Mentors, don’t forget that you can go to http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/mentorgde.pdf and download a copy of our Mentoring Guide.
Main Contact - please remember that all main (and alternate contacts) must be adults. If you are a student and have been mistakenly designated to be your team’s main contact, please forward this e-mail to your adult team leader. He/she will need to edit your team profile immediately. If there is a student designated as an alternate contact please make the appropriate change.
Thank you.
Team Support - Please make sure that when you send e-mails to Team Support, [email protected], you include your Team Number in the subject line - this will help to speed things up when responding to you!