November 2015
VirginiaFIRST NEWS
A monthly newsletter to keep you informed. Dig it.

Did you miss us?
It's a brand new month and a brand new  Virginia FIRST newsletter! 
And it's more exciting than a  bucket of possums. 
 


Robot Season is Here!  

Things are really heating up! 
Crowdfunding results, a pilot youth leadership program , upcoming events, and other  announcements - whew !!

So hold on to your frying pan- and keep reading for these topics and more.

And please pass this newsletter on to teams, parents and students!! 
(a web link is at the top of this email- the "click here")
To subscribe to the newsletter, just fill out this form.


NEWSLETTER CONTEST IS STILL OPEN!!!
 
If you have a good idea for a newsletter name, other than "VirginiaFIRST NEWS," send it to   virginiafirstcontactus@virginiafirst.org  
with the subject line "Newsletter Name !"  
Do you have more than one suggestion? 
Send more than one- we don't mind.

Considering the team names out there, we know SOMEONE can come up with something SPECTACULAR! And there will a PRIZE- oh yeah!  

Meet Your FIRST CHESAPEAKE FRC Regional Directors
With the implementation of the District Model in the new FIRST Chesapeake FRC District, our Regional Directors are working closely together to ensure teams enjoy the highest quality competitive experience possible.  While each Regional Director is located within the geographic area they support, each of them also is taking on additional, specific responsibilities in the planning for the new District events.  

Sally Sylvester has responsibility for FRC teams in Virginia, but she also is leading the   planning effort for the four Virginia District competitions.  Denise Lewis has primary responsibility for FRC teams in the District of Columbia but she is also now supporting Maryland FRC teams and assisting in local fundraising and outreach.  With Denise now supporting Maryland FRC teams, Anne Shade will focus primarily on the planning of the three Maryland and D.C. District events, the District Championship in College Park, Md. and District logistics.  While responsibilities are being shifted to enable the District Model transition to be a success, any of the Regional  Directors  are availab le  to assist  teams and answer their questions.

Sally Sylvester
Denise Lewis
Anne Shade
VirginiaFIRST and Local Foundations - Helping Teams Help Themselves
Students from Franklin Military Academy are taking part in this year's pilot sustainability program, sponsored by Capital One and Brookfield Foundation. 
"This gives our team the chance to be all it can be," said one of the teachers taking part in a pilot initiative geared towards youth leadership and advocacy.  This program, made possible through the generous support of Brookfield and Capital One foundations, is being led by Americorps VISTA Volunteer Delilah Gilliam. Borrowing essential elements from ASTC's National YouthAlive project and Stanford University's YELL program, the goal of this initiative is to develop a template for under-resourced youth leadership and engagement programs.  This template will be used to help teams in under-represented communities successfully advocate for themselves in their communities and raise valuable team sponsorship funds.

Delilah Gilliam is a veteran Americorps VISTA. After a year off from FIRST programs, she has returned to leverage her knowledge of VirginiaFIRST and her experience in under-resourced communities to bring this innovative pilot to teams in Richmond . " We intend to build capacity in under-resourced communities and provide students with the skill set and  resources to become our nation's next generation of technology leaders: innovators  that will change the workforce of tomorrow," states Delilah. "We look forward to sharing this resource tool with more under-resourced communities for the 2016-2017 competition season".

Looking for FTC Qualifier Volunteers!!! 

Attention all volunteers!  Now is the time to start thinking about how you want to be involved in this upcoming season of fun.  Both FTC and FRC will have multiple events across the state and we'd love to see you at one (or more) of them.

Operators are standing by...  Grab your calendars and see if you can help us one Saturday in December. The  FTC Central Qualifier Sponsored by DuPont is Dec. 5th, FTC Northern Qualifier is Dec. 12th and FTC Shenandoah Qualifier Sponsored by UVA Engineering is Dec. 19th.
 
The Volunteer Coordinator team of Scott Jarrett (Northern), Esther Lee (Central) and Janet Sodell (Shenandoah) are in the middle of assigning roles now. Come join the fun!

To apply for any volunteer positions,  click here .
 
If you and your phone might be interested, please contact me at JSodell@virginiafirst.org.  I'll get your questions answered.  Questions ≠ Voluntold (questions do not mean you are voluntold) - ever!  Thank you!

                                                      - Janet Sodell, FTC and FRC Volunteer Coordinator

IROC Rocked the House
IROC 2015
As fall rolls around, students involved in robotics get rocking with the annual ILITE Robotics Off-Season Challenge (IROC). Twenty-three teams from around the Capital Beltway Region gathered on Oct.24th to showcase this past season's FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) challenge. 

This past challenge was Recycle Rush®, a game in which robots must be engineered to lift heavy totes and recycling bins into tall stacks to earn points in an alliance of three robots. During the competition, high school students drive robots designed, built, and programmed by students. 

IROC is hosted by FRC Team 1885 based at Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Virginia, where the value of students learning the applications of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is highly encouraged. As such, most of the volunteers at IROC were student volunteers, sacrificing their time and efforts to bring STEM to the community through robotics. 

After hours of driving and repairing robots during the competition, three teams rose to the top of the game, winning the tournament with a perfect final match. The winning alliance was led by hosting team ILITE Robotics (Team 1885) from Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Virginia, Blue Cheese (Team 1086) from Deep Run High School in Glen Allen, Virginia, and Fresta Valley Robotics (Team 1731) from Fresta Valley Christian School in Marshall, Virginia.

- Hana Komine, Student Leader, ILITE Robotics

Alumni Association Pays It Forward
The Virginia FIRST Alumni Association hosted a GoFundMe campaign this summer to help under-resourced FTC teams purchase mandatory technology upgrades for the 2015-16 season, and your generosity is commendable!  The alumni, their friends and families raised enough funds to support Ridgeview High School in Dickenson County, VA.
 
Located in southwest Virginia, Ridgeview is the product of two rival school consolidating into one in 2015. Both schools has robotics teams, and the students decided to join forces in a unified front.
 
Ridgeview Robotics was thrilled to receive the donation.  In a letter to the Alumni Association, coach Chris Owens stated, "The students at Ridgeview would like to thank FIRST for the idea of gracious professionalism and the lifelong effect it will have on them.  The Ridgeview High School robotics team would like to thank the Virginia FIRST Alumni Association for the money they donated to the team. Robotics is a new adventure in Dickenson County and every donation is very helpful. The team hopes to continue representing both the school and the FIRST organization in a professional and dignified manner."
 
Congratulations Ridgeview, and good luck this coming season!



FIRST Chesapeake now has its own dedicated new website:  www.firstchesapeake.org


Check it out and find out about the new FRC District Model Competition for Virginia, Maryland and D.C.

Make sure you come back often for new information, announcements and updates regarding the 2016 FIRST Chesapeake season.



Upcoming Events Calendar
Here are some upcoming FIRST events. Click through the links or see our VirginiaFIRST Upcoming Events sidebar or 
for more information. 
  • Nov 21 FRC Workshops Sponsored by Insource Solutions (VCU School of Engineering, Richmond, VA)
  • Dec 12 FRC Workshops (George Mason High School, Falls Church, VA)
  • Jan 9 FRC Kick-Off- 3 FIRST Chesapeake locations
    • VCU, Richmond
    • Jefferson Lab, Newport News
    • Woodrow Wilson High School, D.C.

High Quality VirginiaFIRST Photos:  Grab 'em while you can!

VirginiaFIRST hired a professional photographer to document the 2015 FTC State Championship and the 2015 FRC Virginia Regional.  He got some great high-quality shots and made special efforts to include as many teams as possible.
clipart panda
We sent emails earlier this year to team coaches, inviting members of the VirginiaFIRST family to view and download the images of interest to you.

We will, of course, archive the images at VirginiaFIRST HQ.
 
But please note: the photos won't be available online forever.
 
Here's your chance to grab some images for your team publicity, websites, etc.

Just go to the links below to browse the images. Click the image to enlarge, and then save or download to your heart's content!

Note: the links will go dark on or about January 15, 2016.

Photos from the FTC State Championship in Richmond on February 28, 2015:   (247 images)
 
Photos from the FRC Virginia Regional in Richmond, March 20-21, 2015:  (551 Images)


In Memorium - Richard Harmon
We are heartbroken to report that Richard Harmon, one of our long- time FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) coaches, passed away on August 28th. 

Richard was a coach for FRC Team 539, Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond, for 17 years.  During his 17 years as a physics teacher and FRC coach, he inspired an incredible number of students to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.   Richard was also a talented musician, athlete and had an incredible love of the outdoors.  

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, Trinity and Team 539.   
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