Tuesdays and Thursdays - 6:30-8:30pm
Saturdays - 9:30am-12:00pm
Hello all! Congradulations to an awesome event! Each team has something to be proud of, and you represented St. Joe Robotics so well. At this time, we will still have practices at the normal times in preperation for Big Rapids/State Championship. For team-spoecific needs, please reach out to your team's coach.
All FTC students are welcome to attend the FLL Family Night. FTC students who would like to attend should arrive at 4:45, and will do robot demonstrations from 5pm to 6:45pm. Students should also expect to talk about what they've done this season, answer questions from younger Joes and their parents alike. This is a great outreach event to reach our younger students.
Who: 8th Grade Joe Bots
What: Tour the Colson Facility
Where: Meet by the front doors by the flagpole at 11:35 (I will get you a pass to eat lunch early, and you must eat quickly)
When: November 21st, 11:40am-1:45pm
Why: To learn about our sponsor, tell them about robotics, and have a fun field trip!
Other Notes: You must submit your permission slip by next Wednesday, November 19th at midnight (excuses from class will be sent out Thursday morning)
Other Notes:
Safety Glasses (required)
Closed Toe Shoes (required)
Joes Shirt (encouraged)
Permission Slip (required)
Hello! Final update before Coloma.
Arrival time: Unless you hear differently from your coach, please plan to arrive at 7am on Saturday.
All information (location, event schedule, parking, safety, etc.) from the official event venue can be found here.
Don't forget to sign up to bring food here, all families are asked to sign up and support - its potluck style.
Students need:
Safety Glasses or Shide Shields
Closed Toe Shoes (no crocs!)
Team shirts will be arriving Friday. They will be found in each team's pit.
Bring food to the Cafeteria and place on our table(s).
We also need parents to sign up to supervise the table throughout the day. Please sign up on the sheet located at the table Saturday morning if you'd like to take a break from the noise!
Many hands make light work. Please step in if you see a need and help keep our tables clear and replnish food.
Due to the increasing costs of food and unreliability of events providing dishes, we will be moving to a system where we will not have a main dish provided by St. Joe Robotics. This will eliminate the cost for families to eat with the team, and and not constrain our lunch break time by handing out meals and collecting money.
Please sign up to bring food here.
We ask that each family signs up for at least one slot. More slots will be added as the base needs are filled.
Parents - if you are looking to help this week before Coloma, check out the list below. It’s great for parents to help with one team but if they can help with both teams that’s even better.
1. Building - Teams have improvements they want to make with the robot. Need to get those done by Wednesday ideally so the teams can work with the changes.
2. Awards - Awards account for 50% of the allocation for the spots to state. Both teams need to review the criteria, and make sure the portfolios and team presentation reflect the awards. Specifically focus on think and connect, but inspire is the top and has 1st, 2nd and 3rd places that will go to state. To win inspire teams need to be in the running for many awards so focus on all.
3. Drive practice - If there are people that can help the drive team run cycles of teleop time, and practice picking up pieces and getting them where they need to go. We can make some changes to the robot, but increased stick time with the robot and knowing the controls 2nd hand so the students don’t have to think hard about the motions or hit the wrong motion will be what sets them apart for this next week.
4. Programming - If anyone has experience, or can even sit with the students as they program and help observe and encourage it’s helpful.
5. Presentation practice and portfolio review - Help the teams with their speaking and review the notebooks. Help wordsmith and see if things are clear. While there is some technical knowledge of the process shared, reviewers don’t need to know all the workings.
6. Crowd control. We need to be focusing on tasks this week. Students should have specific items to work on. I’d they’re not part of a specific task it’s best to not be in the way of those working on that task. We can ask students to self perform this, but good to have some adults to help direct students to a productive task.
Be aware of the schedules and differing needs between drive team, programming, build needs, script practice, etc. Sometimes the robot will need to be shared, the team will need to pause their work, or others may need support.
Check out everything about an event here
Things to keep in mind:
Everyone must have safety glasses or side shields to go in the pits. Students should grab theirs from their pocket before they leave the last practice (found immediately left when entering the IC) Parents: I will have limited loaners available at the event. Tuesday I will have new ones available for $2 or side shields for $1 at the IC. Exact Cash Only.
Closed toe shoes are required at the event. Crocs are not allowed
Fridays are usually optional for most of the team. Check with your coach if you need to be there.
Saturday: Doors open to teams at 7am. Check with your coach when you should arrive. Judging starts at 8am.
All parents will be receiving a link to sign their child up for their team. These are expected to be sent out to each team prior to October 15th.
Important - Make sure to sign up your child up for their team! This is required to attend the competition and participate. Links will be sent out as soon as they are available.
Parents & Adults - If you have been helping as a mentor or supervoisor, please sign up for the team too!
DUE OCTOBER 27th!
If you have issues making an account or signing in, you will need to contact FIRST HQ.
Want to order a shirt to match the team(s)? Check out our online store here. ONLY 5 DAYS TO ORDER! - Store Closes on SUNDAY
STUDENTS AND COACHES RECEIVE ONE SHIRT PER SEASON. This is included in the Participation Fee. Only order shirts if you would like more than the one provided.
If the school has a half day, all team practices will occur at the usual scheduled time.
Missed the parent meeting this past Tuesday? Check out the meeting slides here.
If you are willing to help please check out the Ways to Help page under Events/Competitions.
Please be advised that I (Morgan) will be out of office starting on October 17th until the 27th. Please contact your child's coach if you need anything at this time. Emails recieved during this time will recieve a resonse once I return.
REMINDER - No Practice on Tuesday for UMS Back to School Night
Action Items:
Read the previous blog post if you haven't (specifically about snacks)
Finish Kickoff Homework (Also for those who came late/left early)
Bring in signed Student/Parent Agreement to first practice and turn in to Coach
Team Assignments
Team Group Google Chat
Team Shared Drive
Meet at the Innovation Center
Volunteers - complete forms
Morgan's Hours
More Info:
Didn't attend Kickoff? Had to leave early? Make sure you complete the required items.
Bring in the Student/Parent Agreement signed to the first practice.
Watch the Kickoff Broadcast
Fill out the Game Breakdown Form
Introduce yourself to your Coach on Thursday!
Find it here if you misplaced your copy. By signing the sheet. You agree that you and your parent have read through the entire handbook.
Turn this in to your coach on THURSDAY
Abhinav
Armaan
Avneet
Benjamin
Grant
Gustavo
Nolan
Pratyush
Rhys
Tanya
Viraj
Wesley
Abigail
Abram
Ariana
CaitLynn
Catherine
Cesar
Cole
Emerson
Eric
Harold
Ian
Jack
Jacob
Ray
Victoria
Aiden
Austin
Connor
Cruz
Gabriella
Henry
Matthew
Max
Nancy
Raina
Sashvitha
Thomas
Weston
Xander
Zekiel
All students will be added to a Team Google Chat where they can freely talk amongst eachother. This chat will be monitored by Morgan, and is for talking about Robotics only. The rules from the handbook apply to this chat as well (Respecting each other, staying on topic, etc.)
If a team member demonstrates they cannot contribute positively in the group chat, they will receive two warnings. On the third, they will be removed. If there are multiple teammembers not following the rules, the whole chat will be disabled.
All students will get access to a shared Google Drive. This will be a NEW folder for this year. Each team will receive their own folder.
Parents: If you plan to support in any way and would like drive access, please email me a gmail that I can share the drive with, and the drives you would like access to (Maize, Blue, White).
All teams meet at the Innovation Center
Fill out St. Joe Robotics' Volunteering form AND St. Joseph Public Schools' Volunteering form if you haven't already.
If you would like to chat with me in person, I am available until 8:30pm on Tuesdays, and 5:30pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. To arrange another time, please reach out via email to coordinate. My personal cell is for emergencies only.
FTC - This means I will not be at your Thursday and Saturday practices!
Welcome to the new season!
Action Items:
Read the Blog Post from 8/20 if you haven't yet! (Very important info about Kickoff)
RSVP for Kickoff - Due Thursday, Sep 4th (TOMORROW) (Students, please don't forget your chromebook for Kickoff!)
First Weeks of Practices
Snack to Share
It contains a lot of important information about Kickoff. Blog posts WILL NOT repeat information, so make sure to keep on reading until you're seeing things that you've seen before. This way, extra informaiton is kept to a minimum.
No Team Practice (Sep 9th) for UMS Back to School Night
Thursday (11th): 6:30pm to 8:30pm *Student/Parent Agreement DUE! Bring your SIGNED sheet to practice! (More information at and after kickoff)
Saturday (13th): 9:30am to 12pm
Tuesday (16th): 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Thursday (18th): 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Saturday (20th): 9:30am to 12pm
Each student is allowed one snack prior to the start of the practice (~6:20-6:30). Please bring an individually wrapped snack with about ~40 servings. Write your child's full name on the snack so we know who has contributed. Please bring this no later than the first Saturday practice, one week after kickoff.
Welcome to FIRST Tech Challenge! Here is everything you need to know to get ready for the new season - FIRST AGE.
Action Items:
2. Sign up to Mentor/Coach/Supervise/Volunteer
3. Watch the Parent Meeting Videos (links below)
4. Mark important dates on your calendar
5. NO MORE SUMMER MEETINGS
More Information:
Kickoff (September 6th) All FTC students and their families should plan to attend our kickoff event to learn about this year's game and learn their team assignment.
When: September 6th, 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (Doors open 9am)
Where: SJHS Student Center
RSVP: By September 4th here.
Notes: We require all students to attend. Lunch is provided for students; for all others, lunch is $8.
A mentor/coach training will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. (all parents should attend)
Students should bring their Chromebook
Kickoff - Bring food to pass!
Last Name A-J -> Drink to pass
Last Name J-R -> Side to pass
Last Name S-Z -> Dessert to pass
Parents - How do you plan to help?
This program can't happen without the dozens of parents who step up to coach, mentor, supervise, or volunteer. Let us know how you plan to help here.
Important Resources Please watch our welcome video series, which serves in place of an in-person parent meeting.
About St. Joe Robotics (Video)
About St. Joe Robotics (Slides)
About FTC pt. 1 (Video)
About FTC pt. 2 (Video)
About FTC pt. 3 (Video)
About FTC (Slides)
Kickoff: September 6th, 9:30 a.m. - ~2 p.m.
Parent Meeting: October 7th, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at TBD.
Give Back Night @ Planks Tavern: October 12th, 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Qualifier Competition 1: Coloma, tentatively November 7th-8th.
Qualifier Competition 2: TBD, in November or December. A second qualifier is not guaranteed and depends on a raffle.
State Championship (must qualify): December 12th-13th or December 13th-14th.
Thank you to everyone who came to our summer meetings! Last night marks our last meeting for the summer, and we will NOT meet until AFTER kickoff. Thank you for your participation!
Future Communications All future updates will be posted on our blog. Please familiarize yourself with the layout.
See you at kickoff!
Morgan
Intro to Programming Class - Starts July 29th, ends August 19th.
first hour of every meeting (6:30-7:30)
If not interested in programming, other things are available during our normal 2 hour meeting (6:30-8:30)
Programmers may stay after class and work on other projects/tasks.
**Tuesday, July 29 will only be programming from 6:30-7:30.
Welcome new FTC families and students! For those returning, there will be a few changes. For those now joining us, there are some important bits on how we communicate. See below for more info:
Receive an email when there is a blog update, which may be at any time.
See the most recent information at the top - no repeated information from precious postings.
A monthly (or bi-weekly for the busy season) condensed update with only the most important information, critical links, and signups.
To all the new families, we are excited to have you! For all returning families, great to have you again!
Fundraisers are being added daily to our Fundraising Page. This is an awesome way to earn money to start saving up for High School travel, or earn money for your team.
At the time of this posting, there are fundraising opportunities to earn over $350.
There will be no summer meetings for the next two Tuesdays (June 24th, and July 1st)
Summer meetings will resume on July 8th. We meet in the Innovation Center from 6:30-8:30
Intro to Programming Class - Starts July 29th, ends August 19th.
first hour of every meeting (6:30-7:30)
If not interested in programming, other things are available during our normal 2 hour meeting (6:30-8:30)
Programmers may stay after class and work on other projects/tasks.
**Tuesday, July 29 will only be programming from 6:30-7:30.
Shout out to such an awesome robotics community! There are a lot of mentors interested in hosting meetings and additional work times over the summer.
To support the communication, we will be utilizing Google Calendar. Mentors - if you would like to host times this summer for any activity, please fill out this form.
FTC Students: Check out the Google Calendar for information about any of the summer offerings. Add the calendar to your own to stay up to date, or copy over events.