FIRST - Update from South Dakota Robotics

Received from Robyn Swets on 10-13-12.  I will take care of registering the teams for the regional tournament in Brookings on October 21rst.

We’re off and running.  Although it may seem like a short time until December, your teams will make great strides in the next few weeks, I promise!

In this email:  1. Mentoring help  2. Qualifier registration  3. Administrative duties

1. If your team is looking for some mentoring help for this season, we have a variety of sessions available.  SDRA has our team mentoring sessions every Saturday from 3-4:30 on many of the issues the team might face.  Check the website, http://southdakotarobotics.com for a list of what topics we are addressing each day.  Please DO NOT REGISTER ONLINE.  That system is designed for individual students, and this is a team activity.  It is listed online so people can find it but if your team would like to attend, please either email me directly, or call the studio, 371-1005 and let us know what sessions you would like.  We can only handle 3 teams at time to give you the one on one time with an instructor or judge.

Also, a veteran team is offering an open house next week and wants to invite everyone to drop by:

Feeling overwhelmed by all the aspects of the Challenge?

If so, team Y.O.D.A. would be more than happy to help you with coaching, programming, building, and more!
Come to our open house on Saturday, October 20th, 2:00- 4:00 PM at the Ronning Library.

Because... what we discover is more important than what we win! :)

If you have any questions, you can email us at yodafll@midco.net

Also, Detrian Hallem, a former FIRST Lego Leaguer and now assistant coach, wrote two books based on the online game Lego Universe.

You should be able to buy them at the following links:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/aftermath-secrets-of-the-wastelands/18868516

http://www.lulu.com/shop/detrian-hallem/aftermath-icy-conflict/paperback/product-20207377.html

2. As was discussed at the coaches meeting, we want to give everyone plenty of notice before we open registration for the qualifiers.  This is a new process for us in SD, and we are trying to ease into the process!  We will open registration for all 5 SD Qualifiers on Sunday, October 21 in the afternoon.  I’ll remind you several times before then, and after registration opens, teams will be notified that it’s time to register!  There are 5 Qualifiers on the first 3 weeks of December, balance geographically based on team concentration:

                Dec 1: Brookings, First Lutheran Church

                Dec 8: Rapid City, SDSM&T, 2-7pm

                Dec 8: Pierre, Riggs High School

                Dec 8: Brandon, BV Middle School

                Dec 15: Sioux Falls, Lincoln High School

Your chosen date might fill up rapidly, so be sure to register as soon as possible on the 21^st, and have a backup plan for if the date fills up.

3. Finally, a couple of administrative duties that need to be taken care of:  Please head to http://gofll.usfirst.org to update your team info.  This is where you can change your team’s name (particularly important if you had a “filler” name listed while your team decided), update your email address, or add a co-coach so they can receive info as well.  Please also make sure that if you are a school team that did not receive a rookie grant, and you have yet to reimburse your school for registration costs, do so asap.  Many of our coordinators fronted the bill on their own personal credit cards, and that’s a hefty burden!  Also, if you’re looking for info from our coach meetings, it is online at our coaches corner, http://southdakotarobotics.com/fllcoach.php along with archived coach letters.

As always, let me know if you need help or extra info!  We’re glad to do what we can for our fabulous coaches!

GO FLL!!!

Love always,

Robyn