FIRST Chesapeake 2023 May Newsletter

May 2023

Hear FIRST!

A quarterly newsletter to keep you informed. Dig it.

Did you miss us?

It's a brand new quarter and a brand new newsletter!

And it's more fun than putting tutus on earthworms.

Ending With a Bang

Here we are at the end of the season, and it seems like we just began. Our teams have had great FTC and FRC seasons and we applaud all your accomplishments.

As always, FIRST Chesapeake has important news to share- Town Hall Meeting, FIRST Chesapeake District Championship, Gold Circle Awards, News from the FIRST Championship, FIRST Tech Challenge Championship, Events Calendar, 2023-2024 FIRST Season Reveal, Summer Camp Page, and more- whew!!

So grab your gardening gloves- and keep reading for these topics and more.

And please pass this newsletter on to teams, parents and students.

(To subscribe to the newsletter, just fill out this form.)

Virtual FIRST Chesapeake Town Hall Meeting May 16th

You are invited to tune in to our next virtual Town Hall meeting 6:30pm, Tuesday, May 16th on our Twitch channel https://www.twitch.tv/firstchesapeake.

We will wrap up the season and talk about 2023-2024, including venues and dates.

Want to submit a question beforehand? Enter it here. You may also ask questions during the meeting in the Twitch chat.

A video recording will be available on our YouTube channel after the Town Hall broadcast.

2023 FIRST Chesapeake District Championship Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton

From April 6th to 8th FIRST Chesapeake hosted 60 of the best and brightest high school robotics teams from DC, MD, and VA who competed in the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.

Over 5,000 people visited the EagleBank Arena on the campus of GMU in Fairfax, VA. Besides watching the field competition, notable activities include a FIRST LEGO League Explore Festival, Scholarship and Technology Row, and "Cyber Threat Defender"- a card game presented by CIAS in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton.

FRC robots race to gather game pieces and score points for their alliance.

Thumbs up

Handshakes

Carefully placing a cone

Booz Allen Hamilton representatives Jinnyn Jacob and Cassie Rothrauff work up the crowd

Want to see more FRC Championship photos? Click here for our Flickr album.

2023 Gold Circle Award Winners

FIRST Chesapeake is pleased to announce this year's Gold Circle Award winners. This award recognizes volunteers who have gone above and beyond to support the mission of FIRST Chesapeake.

FTC Gold Circle Volunteer Award- Individual Winners

Ryan Wolfrum

Joe Bouchard

Rose Young

Jeff Meyers

Jim Anderson

FTC Gold Circle Volunteer Award- Outstanding Group

MARMC

FRC Gold Circle Volunteer Award- Individual Winners

David Boyd

Dr. Kate McBryan

Frederick Monroe

Julia Krueger

Kyle Johnson

FRC Gold Circle Volunteer Award- Outstanding Group

Porvair Filtration Group- and other volunteers, organized by David Keegan

Volunteers are the backbone of FIRST Chesapeake. We are honored that all our volunteers give their time and talents to our organization and the future technology leaders of DC, Maryland, and Virginia. We can't say it enough- thank you!

Report from 2023 FIRST Championship in Houston

Twenty-five FIRST Chesapeake teams traveled to Houston, TX to compete in the 2023 FIRST Championship Presented by BAE Systems. Over 900 teams from 27 countries converged on this world stage to determine the winners across the FIRST continuum of programs.

FIRST Robotics Competition Teams Attending

2363 – Triple Helix Robotics of Newport News, Virginia
1731 – Fresta Valley Robotics Club of Warrenton, Virginia
1727 – REX Lutherville of Timonium, Maryland
8592 – Newton2 of Fairfax, Virginia
401 – Copperhead Robotics of Blacksburg, Virginia
5804 – TORCH of Richmond, Virginia
836 – The RoboBees of Hollywood, Maryland
2199 – Robo-Lions of Sykesville, Maryland
4099 – The Falcons of Poolesville, Maryland
384 – SPARKY 384 of Henrico, Virginia
422 – The Mech Tech Dragons of Richmond, Virginia
1123 – AIM Robotics of Fairfax, Virginia
5724 – Spartan Robotics of Salem, Virginia
2106 – The Junkyard Dogs of Goochland, Virginia
1599 – CircuiTree of Mechanicsville, Virginia
6802 – Mean Caimans of Cedar Bluff, Virginia
5338 – RoboLoCo of Leesburg, Virginia
9072 – TigerBots of Hanover, Maryland
5587- Titan Robotics of Alexandria, Virginia
1629 – Garrett Coalition (GaCo) of Accident, Maryland
449 – The Blair Robot Project of Silver Spring, Maryland

FIRST Tech Challenge Teams Attending

19458 – Equilibrium.Exe of Potomac, Maryland
17080 – Newt.Exe of Potomac, Maryland
7393 – Electron Volts of Silver Spring, Maryland
6417 – Blu Cru of Rockville, Maryland
19818 – Jade Innovations of Boyds, Maryland

FIRST Chesapeake District 2023 Winners of Competitions and Awards:

FRC Dean's List Award- Abigail Lafon, Team 401, Copperhead Robotics, Va.
FRC Championship Winner, Newton Division presented by Ford: Team 5804, TORCH, Richmond, Va.
FRC Championship Division Finalist, Galileo Division: Team 836, The RoboBees, Hollywood, Md.
FRC Autonomous Award Sponsored by Ford, Galileo Division: Team 836, The RoboBees, Hollywood, Md.
FRC Championship Division Finalist, Hopper Division: Team 1727 REX, Lutherville Timonium, Md.
FRC Championship Division Finalist, Johnson Division: Team 422 The Mech Tech Dragons, Richmond, Va.
FRC Autonomous Award Sponsored by Ford, Newton Division: Team 4099, The Falcons, Poolesville, Md.
FRC Innovation in Control Award, Daly Division: Team 2363, Triple Helix Robotics, Newport News, Va.
FRC Team Sustainability Award, Newton Division: Team 1629, Garrett Coalition (GaCo), Accident, Md.

FTC Division Finalist Alliance - 2nd Team Selected, Ochoa Division: Team 19458, Equilibrium.exe, Potomac, Md.
FTC Connect Award, Ochoa Division: Team 19458, Equilibrium.exe, Potomac, Md.
FTC Innovate Award sponsored by Raytheon Technologies, Franklin Division 3rd Place: Team 19818, Jade Innovations, Boyd, Md.
FTC Design Award 2nd Place, Edison Division: Team 7393 electron Volts, Silver Spring, Md.

FRC 1629 Garrett Coalition (GaCo) being inducted into the FIRST Hall of Fame.

Abby (far left) from Team 401 Copperhead Robotics, 2023 Dean's List Award winner

FRC Newton Division winner, Team 5804 TORCH

Aerial shot (by Team 836 The RoboBees) of the FRC teams in attendance

FIRST Tech Challenge Championship Sponsored by Capital One

More than 52 teams of the best and brightest middle and high school students in DC, MD, and VA met at Archbishop Spalding High School to test their teamwork and ingenuity at the FIRST Tech Challenge Championship Event Sponsored by Capital One on February 11, 2023.

FIRST Chesapeake 2022-2023 Event Event Photos

Just a reminder- FIRST Chesapeake event photos can be found on our Flickr page. The 2022-23 season is there!

Don't see a particular competition's album? Unfortunately not all events had a photographer.

Consider volunteering to be an event photographer next season, to make sure all the events are covered.

Upcoming Events Calendar

Here are some upcoming* FIRST and STEM-related events. Click through the links for more information or visit the FIRST Chesapeake Events Calendar for even more event listings.

*subject to change

May 16- FIRST Chesapeake Virtual Town Hall Meeting
May 23- FIRST Chesapeake Chat
Jun 23-25- FTC MD Tech Invitational
Sept 9- FIRST Tech Challenge Kickoff and Game Reveal
Sept 30- FRC Blue Ridge Brawl (off-season event)
Jan 6, 2024- FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff and Game Reveal

Want to know the 2023-2024 season venues and dates? Tune in to the Town Hall on May 16th, 6;30pm.

2023-2024 FIRST Season Reveal

Did you see the 2023-2024 FIRST Season Reveal yet?

During the 2023-2024 season, FIRST® IN SHOW^SM presented by Qualcomm, FIRST is shining a spotlight on the role STEM plays in the arts and empowering young people to design and build a world of endless possibilities. The future is a place you will create.

FIRST^® LEGO^® League students will imagine and innovate new ways to create and communicate art across the globe in MASTERPIECE^SM, debuting August 1.
FIRST^® Tech Challenge teams will raise the curtain on the power of design, creativity, and precision to create all new experiences in CENTERSTAGE^SM presented by Raytheon Technologies, debuting September 9.
FIRST^® Robotics Competition teams will use their engineering skills and creative power to entertain and move the world in CRESCENDO^SM presented by Haas, debuting January 6, 2024.