OPEN:       
CLOSED:   
AMOUNT:  Team grant + coach stipend (see below)
DETAILS:

The State has approved __________ in support of FIRST Robotics teams affiliated with MDE recognized public schools/charters/academies across all programs. Additionally, __________ has been approved in support of FIRST Robotics teams affiliated with MDE recognized non-public schools across all programs. Non-publics schools need to establish a SIGMA Vendor Code with the MDE prior to the grant closing date.

Preschool- FIRST FLL Discover (FLLD) Proposed Amounts

Grants	1st Year Rookie	All Returning Teams
Stipend (MDE)	Up to $ 1,500	Up to $ 1,500
Team Support (MDE)	Up to $ 500	Up to $ 300

*Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on the availability of funding.

 

If approved, a lumpsum payout will be made as part of the school’s monthly state aid payout.  The grant is available for application on the MDE’s NexSys system which is accessible by the Level 5 employee (usually someone in finance) for the school or district.

 

Applying teams must be registered with FIRST HQ for the 2024-2025 season. Participation in a sanctioned FIRST in Michigan FTC engagement option in the 2024-2025 season is a requirement of teams that receive the MDE FIRST Robotics grant award.

 

Teams applying for this grant must list their school affiliation on their Team Profile. The Team Profile can be edited via the team’s Dashboard accessible from the FIRST Account of the Admin and/Teachers.

 

Resources like the Technical Assistance Webinar recording and PowerPoint, the Request For Proposal (RFP), 99h FAQs, etc. can be found at this link: https://www.techplan.org/edtech-initiatives/rdi/competitive-99h-robotics-competition-grant/. Scroll down to the “2023-24 99h: Robotics Grant Materials” section.

 

How to Apply:

• The grant must be initiated and submitted by the person in your school/district with Level 5 clearance. This person is usually in the superintendent’s office. The Level 5 can give the coach Level 3 or 4 clearance to fill it out once it is initiated. Then, the Level 5 can review the information and submit the application.
• Any MDE recognized public or non-public school/district may apply for the grant.
• All of a school’s/district’s FIRST teams should be included on a single application. The application allows you to add “pages” for each team across programs. It should include all of the FRC, FTC, FLL-Challenge/Explore/Discover teams in your school/district.
• If you are a non-public school and don’t have a SIGMA vendor number with the state yet, you must establish one. Do this right away.
• The award amounts in the grant are qualified with the words “up to”. This serves to alert you that this is the maximum amount the team may be awarded but the numbers may be adjusted downward based on the number of applicants.
• The team budget is part of the application. There is no longer a separate spending plan.
• Make sure you communicate right away with your Level 5 because the closing date will come more quickly than you think.
• Participating in a sanctioned FIRST in Michigan LL Discover event in the 2024-25 season is a requirement of the grant. Participating in a Celebration event with at least one other Class Pack and submitting your 2024-25 your scheduled event form when requested and submitted your event verification form to heidi@firstinmichigan.org by May 20th satisfies this requirement.
• Please reach out to heidi@firstinmichigan.org if you have any issues. I may not have the answers but I can help direct you to someone who does.

Grant Application Resources:

• FIRST specific: MDE Grant Step by Step Guide
• MDE grant resources on techplan.org (includes technical assistance webinar, FAQ guide, RFP, etc.): https://www.techplan.org/edtech-initiatives/rdi/competitive-99h-robotics-competition-grant/

MDE contact for 99h grant: Ashley Arras, mde-edtech@michigan.gov, ArrasA@michigan.gov, 517-241-6966. When emailing, use both email addresses and include program, team number, and school district in the email.

Grant Opportunity
To ensure greater access and ensure inclusion of all children, FIRST in Michigan, in partnership with FIRST, LEGO Education and with the support of the LEGO Foundation, is providing LEGO product and funding to communities through the FIRST LEGO League Discover Grant. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis until all available grants have been awarded. This project is intended to provide support to start or grow FIRST LEGO League Discover, with particular emphasis on sites in areas with underrepresented and underserved children. For the purposes of this grant, underserved or underrepresented children include:

• Girls
• Youth of color
• Students from economically disadvantaged, rural, or urban communities
• Students with disabilities

*The full definition of who is considered underrepresented/underserved can be found on the grant application*

By providing start-up materials and professional development through the grant, local educators and program partners will be able to build capacity and scale the delivery of FIRST LEGO League Discover in future years.

Requirements

• Complete LEGO Foundation Grant Application. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until filled.
• Serve at least 80 students in pre-K through DevK
• Serve primarily underrepresented and underserved students
• Run the full program as designed (10 sessions) of Discover between August 2021 and June 2022
  • Engage parents by sending the Discover More sets home with students. We encourage organizations to implement additional parent engagement strategies.
  • For the final session (session 10), hold a Discover Showcase celebration event to recognize student accomplishments and share their work with others.
  • At least one teacher for every 30 students must attend in-person or remote Professional Development. Travel costs to in-person sessions are not included in the grant.
  • Discover Professional Development sessions will be approximately 6 hours long.
    • Sessions will be offered remotely with multiple dates throughout the fall. In-person sessions will be added as possible.
  • Sites receiving grants to serve over 300 students will receive training at their location from a FIRST Certified trainer at a date scheduled in collaboration with the site and the FIRST Education Department.
  • Other dates or locations may be booked through the FIRST Education Department at additional cost to your organization – see the FIRST website for more information.
• Site coordinators must provide student participation numbers and deidentified demographic data in a year-end report.
• Teachers must participate in the evaluation study conducted by FIRST and FIRST’s designees. Teachers will complete a pre-survey, post-survey, and logs after each session.
• Agree to offer Discover for one additional year beyond the grant period (2024-2025 school year). Organizations must agree to cover the registration costs for the number of students included in the grant for next year; future season registration is not provided by the grant. Registration is expected to be approximately $200 for 8 students in future seasons.
• Sign a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to the requirements of the grant and expected use of the products provided

Included in the Grant
The grant consists of LEGO products and Professional Development, valued at $1431 per class pack registration:

• Registration ($175 for 8 students)
  Each class pack includes:
  o 8 student Engineering Notebooks
  o 1 teacher Team Meeting Guides
  o 2 Discover sets
  o 8 Discover More sets, intended to be sent home with students for families to keep
• 2 STEAM Park Sets for every 8 students ($342 for 2 sets)
• 1 seat at a Professional Development session for every 30 students (valued at $250 per person)

These items are not provided by the grant and must be paid by the grant recipient:

• Shipping ($36 per order for registration)
• Taxes (Organizations who are not tax exempt must pay taxes on the grant-provided registrations and products.)
• Travel, food and accommodation costs to attend in-person professional development