05.29 Team Eblast

2022-23 Team Registration Open! l HQ Payment/Grant Handling Changes l 8/20 All Girls FTC Off Season Event l FIRST HQ Regrant deadline 6/1 l FTC “POWER PLAY” Season Kickoff 9/10 l POWER PLAY Game Elements l MDE 99h SCECH deadline 6/1 l MDE Grant Update  l  More!

2022-23 TEAM REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Team registration for the 2022-23 season is open! The $295 season registration fee can be paid via the FTC Storefront accessible from the Team Dashboard through firstinspires.org.

Returning Teams

Returning Teams (veterans) – Returning teams register with their existing team number. Check the MI Archive FTC Team List (tab 1 & 2) for a list of historical team numbers.

  • Take care of “Outstanding Tasks” on your Dashboard
    • Update the Team Profile, update team contacts as needed, Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2 must electronically sign the season’s FIRST Consent/Release form and check that their FIRST Youth Protection Screening is up to date.
    • Invite any departing team contacts (Team Admin, Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2) to invite their replacements.
  • Veteran Team Registration Guide – contains screenshots of the process.

New Teams

New Teams (rookies) – FIRST HQ once again as their FTC Rookie Team Grant available! This grant works with the FIRST in Michigan FTC Rookie Team Grant to 100% cover a newly forming FTC team’s first season registration fee and reusable kit of parts purchase.

  • Start the team registration process but DO NOT PAY for anything yet!
  • Apply for the FIRST FTC HQ Rookie Team Grant. Apply for this grant using your temporary team number which starts with “2022”. The grant form is done through Submittable.
  • Rookie Team Registration Guide – contains screenshots of the process.
  • Team Name is a mandatory field when setting up the Team Profile. If your team does not have a name yet, just fill in TBD then update it at a later time.
  • FiM FTC Rookie Grant specifics:
    • All past team numbers out of a given school must be registered for the current season before a newly forming team is eligible for the grant.
    • New teams must apply for the FIRST HQ FTC Rookie Team Grant first.
    • Visit the GRANTS page on the FIRST in Michigan FTC website for details.

FIRST HQ PAYMENT AND GRANT HANDLING CHANGES
  • FIRST will no longer be able to replace original payments with other funding after FTC Storefront orders are complete.  Once check out is complete, the order and payment method are final.
  • Before completing an FTC Storefront purchase, teams should ensure they have received and applied all anticipated grant funding and, if applicable, uploaded their Sales Tax Exemption Certificate.
  • If a team receives grant funding (remit through FIRST) after their FTC Storefront order is completed, FIRST will apply funding received on behalf of a team (checks, grants, etc.) as a “credit” on the team’s account. These funds can be used on future orders during the 2022-2023 season.
  • IMPORTANT: Beginning this season, FIRST will no longer be able to regrant unused funds to the team’s organization. Unused funds at the end of the 2022-2023 season will be returned to the original grantor/sponsor. Teams should coordinate with their sponsors to allocate and utilize the team’s funding with this in mind.

Recommendation: It’s best for teams, where possible, to establish a local fiscal partner who can accept grant funds on behalf of the team. This can be the team’s school/district, local educational foundation, or trusted local 501c3 organization. Grant funds usually cannot be remitted to individuals.

FTC “ALL GIRLS” OFF SEASON EVENT – 8/20 AT KETTERING; SIGN UP IS OPEN

Our very first All Girls FTC Off Season Event will be held on Aug. 20 at Kettering Univerisity! The 2021-22 season game, FREIGHT FRENZY, will be played. The event will include match play, elimination rounds, and team recognitions. It will not include a judging component.

Registration for this event is now open: Off Season FTC Event Registration Form (link). The event capacity is 24 teams and spots will be allocated on a first come-first served basis using the submission date/timestamp of the form.

Patterned after the FRC All Girls events, the robot driver/operator and pit crew must be composed of middle school aged girls. Male team members can be in the pit but only in support/advisory role. Only girls can perform maintenance and repair on the robot. Special circumstances require approval by the Event Organizer. There are no restrictions on who can be drive coach.

Specific event questions should be directed to the Event Coordinator, Kim Weber at kmweber@charter.net. Thank you to FRC 1322, FTC 5954, FRC 5067, FTC 8063 and Kettering University for making this event possible!

FIRST HQ REGRANT DEADLINE 6/1

If your team has received an email from FIRST HQ Finance recently stating that your team has a credit balance from the 2021-22 season on the Team Dashboard, please take the necessary steps to have these funds regranted before June 1, 2022. Regrant requests filed after this date may experience delays in payment.

Visit the Regranting Process, Procedures, and W-9 page on www.firstinspires.org for details of the process. For questions, reach out directly to grantsapproval@firstinspires.org

Key points:

  • FIRST HQ cannot disburse funds directly to an individual so the team must find a school, community organization, library, etc. to accept the funding on behalf of the team.
  • Checks will be made payable and mailed to the entity listed on the W-9 form.
  • FIRST HQ is unable to carryover unutilized funds to the following season,
PROGRAMMING WORKSHOPS

North Branch Robotics is offering programming workshops for FLL-Challenge, FTC, and FRC teams! Sessions are in June. Please see the linked flyer for more information: North Branch FLL-C/FTC/FRC Programming Workshops. Reach out directly to David Kittell david@nbrobotics.team with questions.

FTC “POWER PLAY” SEASON KICKOFF 9/10

The 2022-2023 FTC season will officially kickoff on Sept. 10, 12:00PM (noon) with the reveal of the season’s new game, POWER PLAY!

There will be kickoff events in various locations around the state. While attending a kickoff event is optional, these events often offer workshops, info sessions, and can feature a “reveal” of the POWER PLAY official playing field! Plus, the opportunity to connect to your local FIRST community!! The EVENTS FiM FTC site page will be updated with kickoff events as they are added.

POWER PLAY GAME ELEMENTS

Teams can pre-order a partial or full set of POWER PLAY game elements directly from AndyMark, an official FIRST vendor. Great use for any remaining 2021-22 season funding!

HOSTING A 2022-23 FTC EVENT

Hosting an FTC event is great FIRST outreach and really brings together your local FIRST community! If you’re interested in hosting, please fill out this 2022-23 FTC Event Host Interest Form (link). Options include hosting a kickoff event (limited), qualifier, league meet, state championship, or spring event.

Information on hosting a FIRST in Michigan FTC event can be found in this google folder: FIRST in Michigan FTC Event Organization. Resources include equipment list, sample budget, planning guides, schedule, layouts, etc. The $100 event fee is remitted directly to the host and comprises the event budget.

MDE 99h SCECHS – 6/1 DEADLINE

Coaches and mentors that would like to submit 99h Robotics Coaching logs for State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs) may still submit their Coaching Log. MDE will process the SCECHs applications beginning June 1, 2022. Visit the following site page for instructions and resources including the downloadable Coach Log template and the new Coach Log submission format (Google form): https://www.techplan.org/professional-development/99h-robotics-competition-scech/.

MDE 99h GRANT PAYOUT UPDATE

For teams where your school/district applied for the 99h MDE Robotics state grant:

The MDE 99h Robotics grant payouts began in mid May. Payout for public school affiliated teams is done incrementally through August with the school’s monthly school aid payment. For nonpublic school affiliated teams, payout was done lump sum via a check remit to the school.

The transition to the NexSys grant system has been a learning curve this year for the MDE. Lots of lessons learned have been captured and will be applied in preparation for the anticipated opening of the grant in 2022-23. Currently, the grant is moving well through the state budget legislative process.

To check on your team’s grant award:

Connect with your school’s/district’s Level 5 person to learn your team’s award amount.

  • The Level 5, usually someone in finance, can access this info through the NexSys system, 99h grant.
  • The recipient list has been temporarily removed from the MDE grant page: https://www.techplan.org/edtech-initiatives/rdi/first-robotics/ but will likely be reposted soon.
  • RFP max award amounts for FTC:
    • Coaches Stipend – $1,000
    • Team Award: Rookie teams – $2,000; Veteran teams – $1,000..
  • The MDE funded public school teams at 98.5% of the max RFP award amount in order to stay within the allocated funding bucket. Nonpublic school teams, in a separate funding bucket, were funded at 100% of the max RFP award amount.
  • Work with your school/district on how the team should draw on awarded funds (including any “must use by” deadlines).

If you have a question about your team’s award status or amount, please reach out directly to Ashley Arras with the MDE at ArrasA@michigan.gov. Be sure to include your program level (FTC), team number, school district, and school name in the email.

If your team received less than the anticipated award amount and you’ve followed up with the MDE, please send me an email at tammy@firstinmichigan.org and let me know the following information:

  • Your team number, school name, school district
  • Award category in question (Stipend and/or Team Award).
  • Amount that was awarded by the MDE in that category.
  • Brief synopsis of your conversation with the MDE i.e. reason behind the funding discrepancy.

Grant requirements state that the team must have been included on their school’s/district’s grant application, was registered for the 2021-22 season, and participated in a FiM FTC sanctioned event in the 2021-22 season.

REV CONTROL AND EXPANSION HUB AVAILABILITY

The REV Robotics Control and the REV Expansion Hub are currently unavailable due to ongoing global supply chain disruptions. If you place an order for the Control Hub along with your 2022-2023 team registration or other robotics kit elements, all products on your team’s order, except the Control Hub, will be invoiced at the time of purchase. Control Hubs will be invoiced separately upon shipping.

FIRST is working closely with supply partners to address these challenges and will share more information as it becomes available. Sign up to receive updates on Control Hub availability.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

To learn more about the FIRST in Michigan Progression of Programs, visit our FIRST in Michigan PK-12 Team/Class Pack Overview Guide.

Links to program information on the FIRST in Michigan (FiM) and FIRST HQ websites:

  • FTC teams are capped at 15 team members.
  • In Michigan, FTC is a middle school program with teams comprised solely of students in middle school grades.
  • Run a Team – Addresses many FAQs
  • Events – upcoming season events
  • Resources – Links to FIRST HQ resources, parts, and vendors, logos, etc.
  • Grants – information will be updated as grants become available; check back periodically
  • Team Eblast Archive
  • FIRST FTC HQ Blog – latest program announcements