Register Your Teams Now

• Registration is ongoing for the UNEARTHED season! When you register a team located in Michigan with FIRST, you are automatically a part of the FIRST in Michigan (FIM) team family! There is no additional registration required until October when event registration begins.
• Teams keep their number from year to year, so please re-register all current teams before registering a new team at your school/district. Rookie status for grants or other purposes is not determined by team number.
• Each team will need two registered, screened coaches in order to register for events in Michigan. Coaches can be registered to multiple teams. All email communication will be sent to the two registered coaches, as well as the team admin if there is one registered.

Participation Reminder

• In Michigan, we run a slightly different progression of programs from FIRST. In Michigan, FIRST LEGO League is an elementary school only program with teams comprised solely of elementary school aged/grade team members. To attend an event or receive any grants, teams must be aligned to the FIRST in Michigan progression of programs, consisting ONLY of: All students in grades 4-5, as well as students in grade 6 (maximum) IF they attend an elementary school, and individual students in grade 3 who are “playing up” because it is a better fit for them.
• FIRST LEGO League Challenge team size is capped at 10. No exceptions are made, and smaller teams than this are highly encouraged (6-8 students.) Multiple teams out of a given school/organization are welcome, and we have grants which can fully fund additional teams at a school. Let me know if you would like more teams!
• If you have middle school students who would like to participate in robotics, please reach out the Tammy Damrath at tammy@firstinmichigan.org for more information about FTC teams.

Project Opportunities

• You can find the recording of ‘Ask an Archaeologist’ webinar at the FLL Challenge Resources page under the ‘UNEARTHED’ drop down.
• Cranbrook Institute of Science has put together an event for teams on September 13th: ‘Digging Archaeology: A Fast-paced, Hands-on, Two-hour Workshop’: Archaeologists are detectives in disguise, discovering and investigating clues to learn about the past. Begin by diving into the lifeways of Michigan’s native people and then try your hand at early hunting techniques. Discover the surprising significance of ancient pottery designs, then get hands-on again as you try decorating – and then reconstructing — pottery yourself. Finally, bring it all together with a simulated archaeological dig in our outdoor dig boxes! Some parts of this program are held outdoors, so please dress for the weather. We’ll head outside, rain or shine.Pricing is $25 per participant (adult or child).To register, please utilize the following link: Group Payment Important: Please be sure to include information in the comments to assist us with identifying your group.
• The Michigan History Center in downtown Lansing is hosting Archaeology Day on Saturday, October 18, from 10 am – 4 pm. Learn about Michigan’s history, meet with Michigan archaeologists and have a great day in Michigan’s capitol.

Team Paperwork

• Now is the time to start getting your team’s “paperwork” in order. It can take time to get coaches screened and consent forms signed, so start now. Rosters will be due the Monday before your event. You can find directions for completing your team’s required roster and consent forms at the Event Readiness page. If you have any questions on this process after reading through the Event Readiness page fully, please let me know.
• If you have 3rd graders on your team, you will not be able to register them through the FIRST Dashboard with this usual process. Email angela@firstinmichigan.org for alternate instructions for those students.

Event Registration

• Event dates will be posted at the FIRST in Michigan FLLC Event page as dates are finalized.
• All teams should plan their season to be ready to compete by mid-November. (If you have an event in your school district, you should plan to attend that date once it is posted.)
• We still need additional events! Please email angela@firstinmichigan.org if you are interested in hosting an event this season. Hosting is a great way to have an event close to home! Hosts retain the per team event fee which comprises the budget for the event.
• Event registration occurs in early October and more information/directions will be emailed later in September and posted to the events page as well.

Grants

• MDE 99h grant:
  • Teams awarded the 99h MDE State Grant: Per legislation, any awarded funds for the 2024-25 grant year must be expended by September 30, 2025. Team Award funds can only be used by the team to which they were awarded. This grant is administered by the MDE and not FIRST in Michigan. Reach out to your fiscal partner regarding accessing awarded funds. 99h grant awards are posted at this link: https://www.techplan.org/edtech-initiatives/rdi/competitive-99h-robotics-competition-grant/. You can use leftover funding to pay your 2025 UNEARTHED registration or purchase materials for the upcoming season.
  • Teams that were awarded a 99h state grant but did not satisfy the FLLC competition participation requirement (participate in one FiM FLLC event in the SUBMERGED season), the MDE will no longer roll over awarded 99h grant funds into the next season. In this case, the MDE has defunded the amount of the 99h grant award for that team. The team will still be eligible to apply for the 2025-26 99h state grant.
  • The 99h state grant is still moving through the state budget legislative process. Current status is that it will likely be retained as a categorical line item. Resolution of the School Aid Budget is not expected to occur until after Labor Day. Stay tuned and we will eblast teams as soon as we have any news.
• Donors Choose:
  • Through generous support from 3M, FIRST® related DonorsChoose project funding is now available to any US-based full-time educators and school district employees who work directly with students at least 75% of the time from Public Schools, Public Charter School, Head Start Centers, and Bureau of Indian Education Schools. FIRST educators will create a project on DonorsChoose and once the project is live, they must complete this form to be considered for this selective funding opportunity. Projects will be reviewed to ensure they meet donor intent and partial funding will be allocated accordingly. For more information, please visit this page.

MICHIGAN RESOURCES

These four important pages have all the information you need to run a Michigan FIRST LEGO League Challenge team each year:

• Resources page – annotated, organized list of links to everything for running a team and this season
• Events page – important pages linked at the top to help you register for an attend an event
• Run-a-Team page – step-by-step guide to running a team from registration to attending an event
• Grants page – information about all grants available to new or returning teams

EBLASTS