October 2022
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 a porcupine at a petting zoo.
Busy as a Bee
The FIRST Chesapeake staff is busy lining up venues and preparing for the 2022-2023 season. As always, FIRST Chesapeake has important news to share- Town Hall Meeting, Team Outreach, FIRST Chesapeake Board Announcement, Volunteer Info, FIRST Programs Expo and Scrimmage, Events Calendar, Teams Social Media Survey, and more- whew!!

So grab your Kevlar 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 October 18th

You are invited to tune in to our next virtual Town Hall meeting 6:30pm, October 18th on our Twitch channel https://www.twitch.tv/firstchesapeake.


Meet the new Director of Programs, Alex Bryant, and hear FTC and FRC program updates.

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.

FIRST logo
Team Outreach in the District

FIRST Chesapeake teams have been busy since April promoting STEM and sharing the values and benefits of robotics with their communities.

Thank you for sharing your experiences and raising awareness and support of FIRST programs!

Here are some examples we spotted on social media:
FRC 836 the Robobees at Sotterley Plantation fall kickoff
FRC 4099 at the Maryland Space Business Roundtable dinner held at the Smithsonian
FTC 19890 Distractors.exe at the Urbana Latino Festival
FRC 620 Warbots at Viva Vienna
1086 Blue Cheese STEM Fest
FRC 9003 TuTu Turtles at a school assembly
FTC 10442 Metro Mechanics back to school night
FRC 2199 Robo Lions at an FLL Expo
FTC 4991 Gearfreaks at an FLL Expo
Thank you teams for posting your outreach and tagging FIRST Chesapeake.
FIRST Chesapeake Board Announcement

FIRST Chesapeake is pleased to announce that David H. Greenberg - Head of Deal Pursuit, U.S Strategic Industries, Google Cloud, has joined its Board of Directors.

David resides in Leesburg, Virginia, is a Washington, D.C. area native, and a proud parent of a recent FRC alumnus (shout out to RoboLoco-Team 5338). He looks forward to bringing his legal, contracting, and operational experience to the FIRST Chesapeake Board. And as a new Board member, he is happy to now have a good reason to continue to attend and enjoy FIRST Chesapeake events in 2023 and beyond.  

We are honored to have David join the FIRST Chesapeake Board of Directors. It is the support of individuals like David, and corporations like Google, that help us do what we do best - build tomorrow's technology leaders.
FIRST Chesapeake Volunteer Opportunities Coming Soon

We know you are revved up to volunteer for our in-person competitions! Information will be coming out soon in the next "Volunteer Connection" newsletter. You can also check out the Volunteer tab on the website.

Not receiving the volunteer newsletter mailing list? Sign up here!
FIRST Chesapeake Programs Expo and FTC Scrimmage Sponsored by Qualcomm at the Science Museum of Western Virginia
We hope to see you on October 22nd 10am-4pm for the FIRST Chesapeake Program Expo and FTC Scrimmage Sponsored by Qualcomm- this event, as well as museum admission to the Science Museum of Western Virginia, are FREE for this day only!

See robotics exhibits- from LEGOs to 120+ pound FIRST Robotics Competition robots. Test your skill driving a demo robot. Learn more about volunteering or starting a FIRST robotics program in your school. This FREE event is great fun for the entire family, from kindergarten to grandparents.

Be sure to check out the FIRST Tech Scrimmage for veteran robotics teams. 
calendar
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

  • Oct 18- FIRST Chesapeake Virtual Town Hall Meeting
  • Oct 22-23- FRC Battle O'Baltimore off-season event (Timonium MD)
  • Oct 22- FRC CHSy Champs off-season event (Glen Allen VA)
  • Oct 22- FTC MRA FTC Workshops (Timonium MD)
  • Oct 22- FIRST Chesapeake Programs Expo and FTC Scrimmage Sponsored by Qualcomm at the Science Museum of Western Virginia (Roanoke VA)
  • Nov 5- FRC Rumble in the Roads (off-season event)
  • Dec 3- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Mechanicsville VA Qualifier 1
  • Dec 3- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Christiansburg VA Qualifier
  • Dec 4- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Mechanicsville VA Qualifier 2
  • Dec 10- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Orange VA Qualifier
  • Dec 10- FTC BunnyBots (Silver Spring MD)
  • Dec 11- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Glen Allen VA Qualifier
  • Jan 7, 2023- FRC FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff and Game Reveal (various)
  • Jan 14- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge DC Qualifier 1
  • Jan 15- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge DC Qualifier 2
  • Jan 15- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Charlottesville VA Qualifier
  • Jan 21- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge McHenry MD Qualifier
  • Jan 21- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Laurel MD Qualifier
  • Jan 21- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Harrisonburg VA Qualifier 1
  • Jan 22- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Harrisonburg VA Qualifier 2
  • Jan 28 or Feb 4 TBA- FTC FIRST Chesapeake Norfolk VA Qualifier
  • Jan 29- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Herndon VA Qualifier Sponsored by Capital One
  • Feb 5- FTC FIRST Tech Challenge Potomac MD Qualifier
  • Feb 11- FTC FIRST Chesapeake FTC Championship Event (Severn MD)
  • Mar 3-5- FRC FIRST Chesapeake District Blacksburg VA Event
  • Mar 10-12- FRC FIRST Chesapeake District Bethesda MD Event Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton
  • Mar 17-19- FRC FIRST Chesapeake District Alexandria VA Event in Partnership with U.S. Department of Energy
  • Mar 17-19- FRC FIRST Chesapeake District Portsmouth VA Event
  • Mar 24-26- FRC FIRST Chesapeake District Glen Allen VA Event Sponsored by Dominion Energy
  • Mar 24-26- FRC FIRST Chesapeake District Timonium MD Event
  • Apr 5-8- FRC FIRST Chesapeake District Championship Event (GMU- Fairfax VA)
  • Apr 19-22- FIRST Championship in Houston
Hails and Farewells
We welcome Alex Bryant as the new FIRST Chesapeake Director of Programs. Meet Alex at our next virtual Town Hall Meeting on October 18th.
2022-2023 Team Information

FIRST Chesapeake loves to follow and recognize our teams on social media. But, we need your help to get the most up-to-date information. Please have your communications team member fill out this form and let us know where to "find" your team so we can tag you. 
Looking for current FIRST Chesapeake news, information and announcements?

Check our FIRST Family Blog at

Keep up with all things FTC and FRC by liking and or following FIRST Chesapeake on all our social media accounts! 



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and FIRST Alumni.  

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