It’s that time again…Let’s Get Bready to Crumble!  The 3rd Annual Crumble Rumble First Lego League competition is Saturday, November 17^th.  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

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.

If you are new to the team OR need to complete your sign up (forms & fees), we ask that both the student and parent come to our meeting on Monday, Sept 17th, From 7-9 pm. Parents, bring your calendar & Check book to the meeting!

You can get the information passed out at the June 4th meeting here:  https://ronweber.wixsite.com/team-3641/current-season

Updated information will be provided at this meeting to the whole team.  Deadline to complete you paperwork and fees is October 1st.  No exceptions will be made.

With all of the things going on, and our students so busy, I contacted FAMNM and they have several other teams already going to be there.  So we are NOT going to the U of M Saturday Morning. 

TEAM Bonding

As was announced, we are having a team bonding event at Three Cedars Farm on September 8th from 6-9:30pm.  We are expecting to have a hay ride, corn maze, and fireside comradely. This event is for students and mentors on the team; costs are covered by the team.

HOWEVER, if the rest of the family wants to visit Three Cedars Farm,  then they can do that on their own and pay accordingly.

Three Cedars Farm

If wish to purchase donuts or cider, or anything from the Farm, you will need to bring some $$$$ with you. 

Please complete the TEAM SURVEY

Just in from FAMNM:

FTC kickoff is this Saturday (Sept 8th)! I have a couple quick updates for your teams:
– UM has waived parking fees in the blue highlighted areas in the map I sent in my last email (also below), so you should be able to park in any of those areas for free. I still recommend the lot next to Stamps Auditorium due to its proximity to the Grove. If the map doesn’t show up for some reason, it’s also available online at our FTC kickoff site (direct link to map).- Your demos will actually start at 10am, not 9:30am like I said in my previous email. Check-in starts at 9:30am, though, so we would like you to arrive by then – that should also give you plenty of time to find parking. Demos are scheduled to end by noon. A detailed schedule is also available at the above link.

Anyone interested?  Please email coach Weber (weberr@slcs.us) to let us know if you can attend!  

Back to school means we are back into regular team meetings. Starting on Wednesday, Sept 5th, (doors open at 6pm, meeting from 6-9pm) we will be holding our Wednesday competition team meetings from 6 to 9pm. Doors open at 6pm. Competition Team meetings will include not only drive teams (Driver, Operator, and Human Player), but will also include other positions part of the competing team such as pit manager, technician,  battery czar, safety captain, strategists, programmer, ambassador, and other pit positions. We are looking for students to fill these needed positions and will be evaluating students over the next few months. 

Our Weekly Monday meetings will be from 6-9pm, with doors opening at 6pm.  These Monday meetings will include training on level 1 FIRST Badges.  Find out more at the Sept 10th meeting.

As was announced at the MARC competition, we are having a team bonding event at Three Cedars Farm on September 8th from 6-9:30pm.  We are expecting to have a hay ride, corn maze, and fireside comradery.  More information to be passed out at our Wednesday, Sept 5th Meeting from 6 to 9pm.  Doors open at 6pm.

What a day!  The Toasters sporting their off season tie-dyed shirts, went to Monroe HS to compete at the Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition.  Riding together on a bus, the Toasters did some team bonding and planning as they traveled the hour drive to get there. Rotating the students in attendance on the field, the team came together to end the day in 4th rank seed before taking a break to get some dinner.  

Bring the bread, Bring the butter, the Flying Toasters, are like no other!

Here is a link to the team agenda for MARC on August 24th & 25th.  

AGENDA

Bus will be leaving on Friday at 6:30am. Parents are to provide transportation on Saturday.  If you come late on Friday, such as after freshman orientation, you are welcome to ride the bus back with us providing you clear it with Mr. Weber.