The Michigan State Championship
Apr 07, 2017 Written by Frank Merrick.Details about the Michigan State Championship and its division assignments.
Something New - FIRST Championship Chairman's Award Finalists
Apr 05, 2017 Written by Frank Merrick.
Sparking Ideas: Inspiring Kids to Innovate
Mar 29, 2017 By Ashton Cofer
Ashton Cofer and his FIRST® LEGO® League team won the 2016 FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award for developing a process to convert Styrofoam waste into activated carbon, which can be used to purify water. Here, he writes about what inspires him and his teammates to innovate.
FIRST STEAMWORKS -- How Are We Doing?
Mar 27, 2017 Written by Frank Merrick.Check out the community response to this year's game from our Week 3 survey!
DonorsChoose.org
Funding Available for Teachers in the United States
DonorsChoose.org makes it easy for public school teachers from all over the United States to request funding to support FIRST® programs that will engage their students in hands-on STEM learning. Teachers create classroom project requests on the DonorsChoose.org website, which are fulfilled by generous citizen donors as well as corporations and foundations.
Learn more below about additional funding opportunities available when you start FIRST projects on DonorsChoose.org.
News Corp School Engagement Campaign
Through a generous donation from News Corp in partnership with DonorsChoose.org, funding is available to support existing FIRST teams or materials for new teams. Funding can be used for just about any FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST LEGO League and FIRST LEGO League Jr. material need, including Pitsco and/or Andy Mark materials, LEGO EV3 robot kits, LEGO WeDo 2.0s robot kits, LEGO building sets, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition robot parts, tools, laptops, tablets, 3D printers, or any other related team materials.
Please note that DonorsChoose.org funding for FIRST team registration fees is not available for the 2017-2018 FIRST season; however, registration-fee funding may be available for the 2018-2019 season.
This opportunity is open to any educator in a public or public charter school located in the United States who is employed full time by the school or school district and works directly with students at least 75 percent of the time.
In the spirit of the DonorsChoose.org crowdfunding model, the campaign will not fund 100 percent of any posted FIRST project. Priority for funding is given to FIRST teams, schools, and school districts that demonstrate and support Diversity & Inclusion efforts from FIRST.
For questions about FIRST projects, visit the DonorsChoose.org Help Center article.
Adults Need Playtime, Too!
Mar 23, 2017 By Dr. AnnMarie Thomas, Associate Professor of Engineering and Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas, where she directs the Playful Learning Lab
Just like your students, finding activities you choose which allow you to find joy in the process is important. Take time to find that joy for yourself.
Qualified Rookie Teams on Waitlists for Non-Home Championships
Mar 21, 2017 Written by Frank Merrick.More clarification and changes to the FIRST Championship Waitlist process for Qualified Rookie Teams.
Week 2, Week 3, and Championship Waitlists
Mar 14, 2017 Written by Frank Merrick.Information about Week 2 Events and how to deal with weather challenges. Plus a small tweak to the Championship Waitlists.
Week One Event Issues
Mar 06, 2017 Written by Frank Merrick.
I apologize for the challenges we had at our events this weekend. While most folks, from the preliminary results of our post-event surveys anyway, still had a great experience, many events were finding themselves running late or delivering fewer qualification matches to our teams than they had hoped.