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Reminder: Competition Team Applications Due Today at 6pm.

Hello everyone,
A announced at the Monday, November 26th meeting, this year The Flying Toasters are instituting a new application process for members who want to be a part of the competition team. This process will involve writing a short essay explaining for each position why you want to have said position on the competition team. We will also be requiring the submission of two separate documents, the first of which is a written teacher recommendation along with a list of your current grades with teacher signature. The second document to be submitted is to be signed by you and a parent/guardian in order to certify your attendance to all required events.

Students can get the information, forms, and links using their BaseCamp Account and going to the HQ Team. 

The application must be submitted by the beginning of the December 3rd (6:00pm) meeting in order to be considered. 

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Bloomfield Girls Saturday Nov 10th

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ErnEgpqPIXZFqMv5t7wyRllmD3nZAS7h/view?usp=sharing

BUS:  Be at SLEHS, visitor lot by main door, by 6:45AM Saturday Morning November 10th.  Bus will promptly leave at 7AM Sharp.  

We are tentatively expecting to load the Bus at Bloomfield at 6:30PM with an arrival at SLEHS for 7:30PM.  As things progress throughout the day, this MAY CHANGE. Students will need to keep parents informed of times. 

Message from the events coordinator:

Team Coaches and Mentors – The 2018 Bloomfield Girls Robotics Competition will be held November 10 at Bloomfield Hills High School.
Some important information for you:
1) Webinar 11/5 at 7PM. Information is below. The topic is “Preparing for Competition”
2) Event agenda and maps are attached
3) Please bring robots and equipment through the north entrance off Long Lake Road (this is highlighted on the map)

Bloomfield Hills High School (new campus)4200 Andover Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Note: Be very careful if using GPS. Do not go to the old high school (Lahser Road)

4) We will have concessions available; if you would like to pre-order here is the lunch pre-order link: https://goo.gl/forms/cC4szYPbh1nZSPLu1

  • FYI, if teams are bringing their own food, etc. be aware there is an FLL Jr. event during the morning in one of the eating areas. Therefore, until this event is completed we will have very limited places for you to reserve tables. Thank you for your flexibility
  • Electric cooking/warming/crock pots are not allowed by our school  

5) Please make sure to bring enough safety glasses for your entire team. We will not have a pool of safety glasses available. Sorry.

6) Event protocol: Robot driver/operator, human player, pilot and pit crew must be high school aged girls. Male team members can be in the pit but only in support/ advisory role. They cannot perform maintenance and repair on the robot. Special circumstances require approval by pit admin. No restrictions on who can be drive coach.
7) Announcement of the scholarship recipients is planned to take place following the end of qualification rounds
8) We will be collecting socks for teens of the Baldwin Center in Pontiac.  The Baldwin Center helps families in their area to succeed and we have decided that we would like to help them provide the comforts that many of us take for granted.  We are asking teams to bring new socks for the teen girls and boys at the Baldwin Center. All sizes will be appreciated. If your team can support this cause, please bring the socks to the tournament, there will be a box in pit administration for you to deposit the socks.
Thanks very much, and look forward to seeing you on November 10.Andrew Raine

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Crumble Rumble Food Sign-up:

Volunteer Refreshment and Lunch Room

Link:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0949aca723aafe3-volunteer

Parents, thank you for signing up to bring something to help feed all of our hard working volunteers!

Please remember that we are feeding about 90 people and some may have restricted diets, so it would be most helpful if you could include a list of ingredients for anything that is homemade.

Kroger’s fried chicken and Aleko’s lasagna and bread sticks will also be provided. 

Please have all breakfast food in the volunteer room at 6:45 a.m. on Saturday and have all lunch food in the room before 10:30 a.m.

There are plugs in the room for crock pots; however there is no sink for dishwashing.

If you have any questions, feel free to call or text Karen Schmidt (810) 730-4353.

Date: 11/17/2018 (Sat.)

Time: 12:00pm – 12:45pm EDT

Location: Team Room at Millennium Middle School

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Reminder: Bot Bash Next Saturday

News from the event:   

We are excited that your team is coming to the 2018 Great Lakes Bay Bot Bash on October 27!  Here is some essential information about the event:

Team Registration, Payment & Check-in:

·         If your plans have changed and you will not be able to come to the event, please let us know ASAP. We have a significant number of teams on the event waiting list. We also need to let teams who wait listed a 2nd robot know if they will be able to bring their 2nd robot. Thanks

·         We are requiring teams to check-in their robots and set up their pit on Friday from 4-9:30 p.m. Your whole team does not need to come on Friday, but at least a portion of your team needs to come to check in your robot/set-up the pit/connect your robot to the playing field. TOASTERS: Mr. Weber & Mr. Novilla are transporting our equpment up on Friday to fulfill this request. Students need to arrive for Saturday Morning, 

·         Please also let us know if your team would like a table in your pit by October 13th. We will be providing tables in the pits for teams that request them. The pits are 10×10 feet.

·         Pits & stands open at 8 a.m. on Saturday. 

·         Here is the link to the 2018 robot inspection checklist:https://firstfrc.blob.core.windows.net/frc2018/Manual/2018FRCInspectionChecklist.pdf.  There have been no changes here – please verify that your robot meets the 2018 requirements if you have made any modifications since the spring season.

Volunteers from Your Team:

·         Thanks to those teams who have their volunteers signed up for this event.  We are still looking for many volunteers help to with field reset, safety advisors, safety glasses, crowd control, and practice field – please sign up new or additional volunteers!  We are asking each team to provide at least 2-3 volunteers to help at the event (or more if possible). To register volunteers, use event web site: http://www.first-glbr.org/volunteer-sign-up.html

·         Volunteer check-in will be by the main entrance near the Gold Gym at the volunteer check-in table. 

Event Parking & Logistics:

·         The event web site is located here:  http://www.first-glbr.org/great-lakes-bay-bot-bash.html

·         The event is being held at H. H. Dow High School, 3901 North Saginaw Road, Midland, MI 48640.  Direction are available at the FIRST-GLBR website: http://www.first-glbr.org/driving-directions.html 

·         There is parking at the school. It is best to use the parking lots on the northwest side of the school.   You can park anywhere in the open lots, except for the designated team trailer parking (which will be marked with signs). If you are bringing a trailer, please park in the designated area. 

·         For trailer unloading, you will want to use the far western entrance by the H.H. Dow High School entrance to Green Gym (near the track/stands) since that is closest to the Pits. 

·         The main event entrance is the H.H. Dow High School entrance by the Gold Gym on the northwestern side of the school.  There will also be signs on the outside doors/windows to help direct you. 

·         Event schedule https://www.first-glbr.org/uploads/2/4/7/7/24773470/2018_glbbb_agenda.pdf

o    Friday – Pits are open from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for registration, load-in, connecting robots to the playing field and practice matches. 

o    Saturday – Event runs from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Please note that there will be a safety captain meeting and a driver’s meeting before the 9 a.m. opening ceremony on Saturday morning.

·         We plan to have the competition field open for practice matches on Friday evening for teams. 

·         We will have T-shirt vendor at the event for the optional purchase of robot-themed and event shirts. Please be aware of this option and let your students know so they can plan if they might be interested.

Food at the Event:

·         We will have concessions available on Saturday from 8 a.m. to around 5 p.m. We will have drinks and snacks all day, with breakfast food items in the morning and lunch items at midday.

·         If your team is planning to bring team food/lunches with you, we will be able to use the school cafeteria to store boxes, bags or coolers.  We will be able to use the school cafeteria to eat Saturday for all teams (whether you bring your lunch, get food at the concession stand, or order food to be delivered). 

·         We are not able to have a place for you to plug in crock-pots or food warmers at this event, so please plan accordingly. Please communicate this information the people who are helping coordinate food for your team.

·         Teams are welcome to take advantage of local restaurants in the area.

Event Live Stream:

We will have the competition livestream video linked to this location: http://www.first-glbr.org/livestream.html. 

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Ford High School Science & Technology Program Starts October 13th!

Ford Motor Company’s High School Science and Technology Program will be starting up on Saturday, October 13.  The program consists of monthly Saturday sessions at Ford’s Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn. The program will have about six sessions with each session focusing on a STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) topic in the Automotive industry.  


More general information about the program and permission forms can be found at the following link:  http://www.stem.ford.com/STEM/HSSTPOverview


More information on the first session held on October 13th can be found here:  http://www.stem.ford.com/STEM/ProjectDetail/Dearborn-Michigan-United-States-Materials-and-Manufacturing-2018/1523

The registration deadline for this first event is October 11th.  Register for the first session by clicking on the registration tab on the above link.

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2018 Crumble Rumble FLL Tournament!

It’s that time again…Let’s Get Bready to Crumble!  The 3rd Annual Crumble Rumble First Lego League competition is Saturday, November 17th.  The Flying Toasters host this BIG outreach event!  It’s a great opportunity for the Toasters to provide opportunities for 4th and 5th graders to stretch themselves to meet fascinating challenges. The theme this year is space – “Into Orbit Global Challenge.” You can see a video of the robot challenge here:  

We will need all hands on deck for this event! We hold the event at Millennium Middle School with setup Friday evening from 5:30pm – around 8:30pm, and reappear about 7:00am on Saturday to run it. Clean up ends around 5:30pm.  These are mandatory volunteer events for all Flying Toaster students.  While the students are great volunteers, it takes over 100 volunteers and parents/adults, all of which are vital to our success.  Please consider volunteering and supporting our team’s effort!

We have a number of opportunities for adults and students. There will be some responsibilities before the event so that our volunteers are prepared. We will send out volunteer screening materials (mandatory background checks per the FIRST Robotics organization guideline) and also some on-line training with a simple test that can be taken at your convenience.

We should know the volunteer roles we need to fill this week. In the meantime, however, we are hoping you will keep the Crumble Rumble on your calendar. If you know you can or cannot participate, please let us know. Otherwise, we will be sending out more specific information as soon as we have it.

Thank you!! 

Barb Brodesser, Melissa Gembacz, and Molly Klemens

Crumble Rumble Committee

The Flying Toasters, Team #3641

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Upcoming Meeting Schedule

Sept. 10th Meeting: 

6-7pm Regular Team Meeting

7-8pm Training: FIRST Badges Level 1 – Safety

8-9pm Enrichment Time (students may work on projects, extend their skills, learn more about the topic discussed, meet in sub-groups, work on team tasks, etc.

Sept. 12th Meeting:

At our last competition meeting we discussed the roles and positions we will be working on developing students to fill. We will be continuing our work on this.  Also at the last competition team meeting, our robots quickly broke down and we ended up with none to practice with. Our 2017 robot has been fixed and 2016 is undergoing repairs.  Special duct fans have been ordered and received to provide great cooling for our new 775 chassis.  Come help us get them together and practice!

The back to school night is on Sept 12th, from 7-9pm.  The main room is will be used by the newly hired tech teacher, Mr. Sadowski from about 6:30 to 7:45pm.  During that time, we would like to see the team work on fixing the remaining robots, and providing demonstrations and display for parents to see.

Sept. 17th Meeting:

6-7pm Regular Monday Communication Meeting

7-8pm Team Sponsorship Meeting

8-9pm For team members in good standing that have all of their paperwork turned in and fees paid, they can work on enrichment projects and exercises.

8-9pm For new members or members that need to complete their paperwork and fees.