your first website can be a frustrating process, even for the most tech-savvy.Google Apps has enabled

These are ready for the website - I have the titles at the top of each write up and I have Categories: in red I created some new onesCan we put them, categories and the write ups, in this order on the website?I also copied the ones from the website, they are in blue

We have a total of 18 new CowTips so far

We already added to the website Once you qualify for Championships

Linking - can we link the blue highlighted ones? I haven’t done the original ones yet

CompetitionsGetting To and From Competition

Getting to and from a robotics competition can be a daunting task, especially when you start looking at the number of team member that will be traveling and getting your tools and equipment as well as your robot to the event. Breaking each task down helps make it a lot easier. When we go to our local regional we encourage all of the member of our team to attend, they have worked hard to get our team, robot and award submissions done and they should all get to enjoy at least one regional event.

Regional CompetitionHopefully, your local regional is close enough to make sure your entire team is there for each day of the competition. For our local regional our team is dropped off and picked up each day at the venue. Each student on our team is assigned a regional job the week before so once we get to our event everyone knows what they will be doing and where they should be.

If you are having to travel to a regional hours away it is helpful to first consider how many student will be traveling with your team and if it is during a school vacation or will they need to miss school to attend. We have a priority list for events with our team if space is limited for competition travel. That list goes:

1 Drive team

2 Pit crew3 Chairman’s presenters4 Pit speakers5 Scouts6 Seniors7 Juniors8 Sophomore9 Freshman

Once you know how many team members and mentors will be traveling then you should consider what will be the best way to get your team and robot to your competition. If you will need to charter a coach bus get quotes from several companies in the area, sometimes there can be hundreds of dollars difference. The cargo bay under the bus can usually hold your robot, and all totes and luggage. Remember you will be required to pay for the bus driver’s hotel room, sometimes the hotels will comp you a room for the busdriver. Do not be afraid to ask. Also, look for a team close to you to share the bus with your team, not only does this help split the cost of the bus but it is a great way to get to spend some fun time with another team.

FlightsIf you are flying with a group of ten or more contact the Group Reservations at the airlines. The prices are a little bit more than what you can get online but you have the convenience of being able to change passenger names up to 48 hours prior to the flight and you all fly and arrive together.Take baggage fees into the total price of tickets, $25.00 per bag each way adds up when you have to check in totes.Be careful packing your totes, airlines are really strict about the 50 pound weight limit. We zip tie our totes and tape 2 extra zip ties to the top of the totes so after they are inspected by the airline, most of the time they will re-zip tie them. Be sure to pack your batteries in your crate since they are not allowed to be checking onto the airplane.It helps to have team members carry-on their bags and only check team supplies. Remember if your students have utility knives please be sure they are put into the totes.

Shipping your Robot to Regional or ChampionshipsRegional CompetitionFedEX no longer pays for shipping of robot crates to regional or district events so take this into consideration when choosing a regional event, shop around for pricing or see if you can find a sponsor who will pay for the crate shipping.

Remember that you need to crate and ship your robot the Tuesday after your last Regional event. You should receive your FedEx papers at your qualifying regional, if not contact your Regional Director.Be sure that your crate does not weigh over 400 pounds! For all FIRST information about shipping your crate go to http://frc-manual.usfirst.org/viewItem/7#5.8.

HotelsContact Steel Meetings for rooms, they usually have deals in the area of the venue. Generally quad rooms are available at hotels, these can sleep 4 and help to bring down the cost of rooms.

Try to find a place that includes breakfast, it will save a meal cost and time in the morning.Steele Meetings, Inc.6346-65 Lantana RdSuite 117Lake Worth, FL 33463888-5STEELE (578-3353)561-292-3314 (P)561-649-5396 (F)FIRST@steelemeetings.comwww.steelemeetings.comwww.steelehousing.com###########################################

Competition JobsAt competitions, every job is critical to the success of the team. Here are some ideas of jobs you could assign students during a competition, listed in order of importance:

Drive Team (1 Driver, 1 Operator, 1 Human Player)This is the group of students responsible for driving the robot.

Pit Crew (1 Pit Crew Manager, 3-4 Students)This is the group of students responsible for maintaining the robot during the course of a competition. Make sure that they have knowledge of your team’s robot; these students will be responsible for explaining the technical aspects of your robot to the judges!

Chairman’s Presenters (3 Students, 1 Student for Backup)Once you are no longer a rookie team, your team can qualify for the prestigious Chairman’s Award (see Chairman’s CowTip for more details)! These students will present your Chairman’s presentation at any competition where you are competing for the Chairman’s Award.

Pit Speakers (2-4 Students)This is the group of students that are responsible for talking to judges and VIPs that come to your pit. Pit Speakers should be selected based on their knowledge of FIRST, your team, and your robot.

Scouts (8-12 Students)These students are responsible for scouting other teams at competition. They will be watching matches and recording information on team's performance. Scouts provide valuable information for alliance selections, regardless of a team’s seeding position.

Safety Captain (1 person)This person is in charge of safety glasses, cleanliness of pit, keeping aisles clear, keeping only needed personnel in pit and knowledge of where first aid is.

Video (1-2 Students)This group of students are responsible for recording ALL matches at a competition. This includes capturing the jumbotron as well as recording the 'full field view' video to be used for scouting and documentation.

Photography (1-2 Students)These students are responsible for taking pictures of every robot in their pit and on the field. These photos are used for scouting purposes and documentation.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Judging Tips for Competitions

Judging is a really important aspect when it comes to attending regionals and Championships. The judges evaluates every teams and the more you interact with the judges and show your team accomplishments, the more likely you will become considered for awards!

● Judges wear blue shirts. They may return more than once during your event. It is

important to make sure that your pit speakers have enough knowledge about how the team is run and the basics of the robot. It is also nice to have an engineer and public relations person doing pit speaking together, as they can help each other out.

● First impressions count. How your pit looks does matter. Try to be clean and organized and free of team members “hanging around”. Too many people might discourage a judge from getting a chance to speak to your pit speakers.

● It is always important to always have a few students available on Friday and Saturday in your pit area. Judges have a very tight time schedule and may not have a chance to come back to speak to your team.

● Don’t be afraid to pull in a judge, even if they are not coming to your pit area. All the judges talk and the more that you speak to the more judges will remember your team.

● Assume judges will not have seen copies of your Chairman’s Award entry, if you

submitted one. Feel free to hand them a copy in the pits.

● During Chairman’s presentation some teams give the judges binders, scrapbooks, or other documentation to take back with them to the deliberation room, these will be available to pick up after deliberations.

● Judging for the Entrepreneurship Award will occur on the first day of competition. Make sure you have an example of your business plan to share with the judges on that day.

● Some teams prepare short handouts, brochures or a magazine about their team for the

judges to take away, highlighting what your team has done throughout the year.

● Judges will be observing your team throughout the entire competition, even if they aren’t interviewing you. Make sure your teammates are very careful what they say in the halls, stands, and bathrooms it will reflect back on your team. Judges will also ask the other volunteers, for their input.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Scouting

Scouting in FRC is a way to analyze and record data during competitions. The data will be used to determine which teams we would like to be on our alliance and improve our chances of winning.

There are different ways to scout, in the pits and during qualification matches. In the pits, members of the team will take pictures of other teams’ robots, which reminds us of what the robot looks like. In addition, members will ask the questions about the robot, such as type of drive base, whether it is a long or wide robot, and other technical questions about the robot. During qualification matches, members of the teams will watch the robots play the game. Depending on the game, we make a scouting sheet containing the list of abilities of the robot during game play. For example, 2012’s game was Rebound Rumble, and we collected data on the robot’s ability to score and to balance. As team members watch the robots play, they recorded if the robots were able to shoot, the accuracy scoring, and whether if it was able to balance. We also record the qualification matches to help us clarify a robot’s ability if the data from the scouting sheets inconsistent.

Not all teams may want to interview teams or spend the entire regional competition watching robots play. Teams may choose one method over the other or some combination of both. ##############################################Once you qualify for Championships...++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PhotographyHaving a photographer on any FIRST team is very important. Photographs allow you to see the progress your team has made, show others and rookies what your team is all about, and so much more! It is also best to have someone on the team be the photographer. Though a team parent makes a good photographer, it may be best to have a student on the team take the photos because it could give someone a chance to join a FIRST team, that wouldn’t normally have joined.

Some helpful things to remember:

1) Make sure you have a clear of idea of what you want photos of. Make a checklist to ensure you have taken those shots. It is an easy way of keeping track of what photos you’ve taken and photos you need to take.

2) It is best, but not necessary, if your camera is a DSLR or an SLR. These types of cameras tend to have better quality than most cameras, and can capture more than a small point-and-shoot camera. Also, you can change lenses, which can allow you to zoom in when you’re too far, or blur out the background if you need to take a photo of a person or object.

3) Always bring a second camera. You never know when you could have issues with your first camera. It could randomly stop working or run out of battery, and a spare battery is not found at the moment it is needed. This second camera could be a simple point and shoot.

4) Bring an extra battery or charger to events and competitions. After taking a lot of photos and or video, your camera can run out of battery quite quickly. With an extra charged battery, you can keep taking photos and video, or if you do not own a second battery, charge the camera and you can use your second camera for the time being.

5) Having a second person taking photos at a large event or important competition really helps, but it isn’t necessary. Two photographers could get more done and split up important things to photograph.

6) Bring an external flash if you have one. At competitions or events, you can never predict what your lighting situation will be. It could be too dark, and sometimes the flash that comes on your camera doesn’t always work well.

7) Use flash as much as you can. A flash, even if it’s just the flash that comes on your camera, is really helpful. It makes things that are hard to see more visible, and usually makes a photo look better during an event or competition. Even though flash isn’t the most flattering thing in the world, use it away. Remember, you’re taking photos for your robotics team, not trying to win an photo contest.

8) Have one large memory card to store all robotics related photos. A 32 gig or 16 gig memory card is best. Each of these memory cards can hold many photos, and it’s better to have a large memory card then a small one. A small memory card fills up fast, which would require you to change cards a lot and then you would end up with many memory cards, making it confusing to find specific photos. Try to designate one or two large memory cards to robotics.

9) Put your photos on a photo sharing website where people on the team can have access to, like a Picasa or Flickr. That way, if someone needs a specific photo, the photographer wouldn’t have to go through all the photos just to email a few.

10) If you do keep you pictures hosted on a website be sure to make an album for each event, this will make finding pictures from a specific event or year much easier than sorting through thousands of pictures. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Team Managment

1 Team Handbook http://team1538.com/Team1538Handbook.pdf2 Finding and Asking For Help 3 Preparing for and Attending Kickoff 4 Creating A Team Website 5 Finding and Recruiting Team Members 6 Finding and Utilizing Mentors 7 Getting Connected With FIRST 8 Using Google Docs 9 FIRST Philosophy and Practices 10 Creating an Image or Brand 11 Sponsorship 12 Structuring, Managing, and Utilizing Students

Setting up and using PiggybackrDuring 2012, The Holy Cows discovered a website named PiggyBackr, a tool that has helped our students raise money for the team and our travel fund by contacting friends, family, and community members. In late 2011, an experienced team in technology, fundraising, and youth empowerment created Piggybackr. It was created by using research on the best practices in motivation, youth engagement, giving, and fundraising.

There are two ways to set up an account with PiggyBackr:1 Use the code that was given to your FIRST team2 Fill out your contact information and once you finish signing up you’ll need to

complete your page. You’ll need a picture of you, a video of your cause, and information about yourself. Now you’re able to send emails to people, companies, and businesses to help fund your cause.

How to set up an email template:1. Go To: Tools > Spread The Word2. Add Supporters - enter email addresses of all the friends and family members that

you will be sending this email to. We recommend at least 20. Pro Tip: The most successful fundraisers enter over 100.

3. Select the supporters by checking boxes next to their names4. Select the email template titled "Use This - Email To Friends and Family"5. Customize the email template by:

● adding your unique Page URL in the 3 bracketed locations (remove the brackets)

● filling in the 3 reasons why you "LOVE FIRST Robotics" ● changing [Your Name Here] at the end of the email, to your real name and

remove the brackets

Note: Your unique URL can be found when going to your personal fundraising Page and copying it from the URL bar. Your reasons for why you love FIRST are best kept to one short sentence each. Your email will not send if there are any brackets present.

6. Check Box: "Save Letter As Template"7. VERY IMPORTANT - Under "Name" - enter whatever you want and hit "Save".

This will save this modified template as the one you will be using to send to your friends and family.

8. If you are ready to send it, hit SEND!

Use the other templates if you are sending it to businesses and such.You’ll receive a level with the work that you do. The levels are from 1 to 8, 1 being you just started and 8 being you completed your goal. The levels in between show if you have sent a lot of emails, updated your page, and received donations.

You can edit your page by going to your home page and clicking Tools in the upper right hand part of the page then edit page. Good luck and happy fundraising!

#######################################################

Rookie Members TipsIt’s your first year in a new FIRST Robotics team and you have yet to find your place on

the team. Although it may seem hard and scary at first, your team is there to help you. Here are some “do’s and don'ts” to help you make the most out of your rookie year on a FIRST team.

● Feel free to talk to the team leaders beforehand to familiarize yourself with them, and find out if FIRST robotics is right for you

● Leaders like to announce new team rules each year, these rules may seem like ways to scare new members, but they are really important in keeping the team safe and efficient.

● Communication with the mentors is a very important factor during your first year, and throughout your career on the team.

○ Mentors are there to help you, so use that to your full advantage.○ Always speak to your mentors politely and respectfully.○ When asking a mentor a question, be sure to state the question clearly so that

your mentor has a clear understanding on how to answer.

● Always respect each other, especially the mentors. They volunteer their time to help the team.

● Make sure to always observe and study veteran members of the team. This allows you to constantly learn wherever and whenever you are with the team.

● Do not expect to automatically have a big job right at the start of your first year, especially if you're going onto a large team. Sometimes there may not be much for you to do, this is a good time for you to show you are always ready to work.

○ Always ask a leader or mentor if there is some work they can have you do.○ You can always shadow and assist your veteran helper.○ In the case that they have nothing for you to do, try thinking of suggestions or

tasks that you can recommend to the mentors.○ NEVER play videogames or watch movies and such. There will always be some

type of work you can do to be productive.

● The best thing to do is to participate in the team as much as you can.○ Teams love rookies that attend every event and meeting, and usually these

rookies will end up with the most hands on work with the robot or PR for years to come.

○ The more effort you put into the team, the more you will get out of the experience. The motto of our team is “You get out of the team what you put into it”.

● Make sure you listen to the veterans, leaders, and mentors on the team. They have more experience and know what is expected as a team members.This does not mean you can’t make suggestions. Mentors and leaders will always be glad to hear your suggestions for the team.

● Make sure you keep your grades up, most teams requires a weighted GPA to stay on the team. School work should always come first before robotics, just the same as any sports team.

Remember, how much you get out of the team all depends on how much you put into the team!Good luck and remember to have fun!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Engineering1 Recommended Tools and Materials

How to Bag and TagFor the 2013 Season, all USA and Canadian FRC events (including District Events) are “Bag and Tag” EXCEPT the Championship.

Each team received a “Bag and Tag” kit in January with their Kit of Parts. The kit contained:● two (2) plastic bags large enough to contain your robot.● at least six (6) numbered tags: zip ties with individual serial numbers.

Instructions on how to Bag and Tag:1 Bag and Tag your robot on Stop Build Day, and complete the Robot Lock-Up Form you

received in your kit of parts

2 The proper bagging procedure is as follows:a Set your bag you received from your kit of parts on the floor, leaving room for the

robot in the center.b Place your robot in the center of the bag.

i Make sure you leave plenty of room surrounding the robot.c Pull the bag up around the robot (Be careful not to catch the bag on any corners

or sharp edges, use every precaution not to tear the bag).d At the top of the bag, firmly grasp right below the opening of the bag, closing the

opening.e Tightly seal the bag by wrapping one of your numbered tag (zip ties) around the

top of the bag, sealing the opening.i Make sure there are no holes in the bag, if your bag does get a tear in it

be sure to tape it up, write it on your lock-up form then explain to the inspector what happened, it will be up to them if you can compete or not.

ii Complete the Robot Lock-Up Form by verifying the date and time that the bag was sealed.

3 Your team may bag their bumpers separately from their robot. However, the separately-bagged bumpers must be sealed with their own tag, and that tag number must be entered on the Robot Lock-Up Form on Stop Build Day.

4 Transport your robot to your event venue in your own vehicle. If you plan to transport your robot in a personal vehicle, please ensure that you have adequate means to secure your robot.

5 Your team must bring your own bagged, sealed and tagged robot into the venue through the designated robot entrance. Bring a rolling cart or dolly to facilitate the load in.

6 You may NOT open your bag until:a it has been checked, approved by an onsite inspector,b as well if the pits have officially been opened for robot work. You must have your

Robot Lock-Up Form ready for review at the event. DO NOT forget to bring it.7 After your Robot Lock-Up Form has been properly checked and approved, your team

may open the bag and prepare to compete.8 After the event, if you are attending another event, such as the Championship or another

regional or district event, re-seal your robot following the same steps your team has learned above except with a new number tag (zip tie).

a Once bagged, enter the new tag number on the Robot Lock-Up Form.9 You may not access your robot again until the next event.10 If you attend the FIRST Championship, you will receive an additional FedEx voucher (bill

of lading) in your registration packet that will allow you to ship your robot home.11 If you are attending the Championship as your next event, your robot must be shipped

by the Thursday after the final qualifying event. ALL teams attending the Championship must build a crate to ship their robot in. FedEx will not pick up a robot that is not in a crate.

a need help on building a crate check out this helpful video from Team 246: ”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39REvO7zR-g”.

12 Keep your filled crate weight below 400 pounds. Any teams exceeding 400 pounds will be charged overage fees accordingly. If you are flying to Championships be sure to box your batteries in your crate since you cannot take them on the airplane with you.

13 Remember to bring your Robot Lock-Up Form to your event. A missing Robot Lock-Up Form is one of the top reasons teams are delayed in their competitions.

14 The Robot Lock-Up Form MUST be used:● on “Stop Build Day”;● before you leave an event, if you expect you will/may be attending a later event.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++What You Will Need at Competition - Engineering

Save time and stress packing for competition by having a checklist ready to make sure you don’t forget anything!

Quick Tip:*Label each tote and keep a list of where your materials are located in the pit. This makes finding materials a lot easier.

Sample Engineering Packing ListTote 1:-Cable Bag-Zip Ties (1/4 & 1/8)-Belt Material-Rubbing Alcohol-A9 Cutting Fluid-Panasonic Battery Charger-Impact Driver Bits-Snap Ring Bin-Panasonic Impact Driver & Drill-Connector Bin-Panasonic Batteries-Glue Gun

Tote 2:-Belt Welder-Right Angle Drill-Fastener Bin-Flashlight-Extension Cord

Tote 3:

-Heat Gun-Bike Pump-Velcro-PWM Kit-Hot Glue Gun Sticks-Scrap Polycarb-Tires/Inner tubes-Blue Tape-Power Strips-Extension Cord--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Public Relations

Woodie Flowers Award Submission It has been said that to make an impact on someone’s life is to live a truly successful life; David Berggren has done this many times over and still humbly takes no credit. David has been involved in FIRST since 2005, when he worked with a group of students to begin Team 1538. Even with a baby girl at home, David still finds the time to devote over 1,500 hours to The Holy Cows each year. As a teacher at High Tech High, David has worked with the team to create a robotics elective class, club and senior project. David also worked with High Tech High to create intersession- a two week-long immersion course dedicated to robotics. Intersession has expanded since its inception to include many more science and math related courses, giving hundreds of students the opportunity to grow in STEM areas.David consistently goes above and beyond to ensure that his students learn as much as they can and work to their full potential. He not only lends the team use of the engineering lab at High Tech High, but brings them to his family-owned machine shop. Both David and his father work with The Holy Cows, as well as other Team San Diego teams, to custom design and build parts, and teach us how to safely run the machines in the shop. David’s own passion for engineering has been instilled in us all, inspired greatly by his selflessness and generosity.David’s generosity and caring can be seen in all that he does. On more than one occasion David has stayed up all night, not only to work with the team but to write letters of recommendation for students applying to college. Jessica Raptis recalled when he wrote her a letter of recommendation, not because she asked, but simply because it would better her chances for acceptance. Largely because of that letter she will be attending Cal Maritime in the fall. This is a prime example of David’s giving nature and his love for his students and team members.It is not only his time that David donates. David personally helps students who cannot afford to travel with the team to competitions. He only asks that they come intern at his machine shop and learn something new there. David encourages his family and friends to donate materials and money to the team, as well. Anyone who meets David feels compelled to give after seeing his own passion for FIRST and always visible conviction that the youth he teaches are the future.

David’s kindness extends far beyond The Holy Cows. He has always been very active in Team San Diego, a coalition of all San Diego FRC teams. Each year David chairs the San Diego Kick-Off event, sits on the Regional Planning Committee, and builds the practice playing field used by all San Diego teams. This year David became the Senior Mentor to San Diego, Orange and Imperial Counties. This year alone David has brought in over 30 new mentors and sponsors for teams across these areas.To be able to teach students engineering concepts, real world applications and how to take ideas and bring them to reality is the only payment David asks for. He volunteers his time and equipment without thinking twice and only expects us to learn as much as we can. David has the ability to inspire within us a passion for engineering and, further, he gives us the tools to pursue whatever our goals may be. David has opened his classroom, his machine shop, his pocketbook and, most importantly, his heart to FIRST, The Holy Cows, and every other student he works with. David Berggren selflessly promotes FIRST, he gives so much, and is truly a gallant individual, keen only on teaching his students as much as possible.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Chairman's Award SubmissionCows History & GrowthWe may build robots, we may study science and technology, but what do The HolyCows really do? We engineer a better life. Since our beginning in 2005, The Holy Cowshave gone from 10 members from 1 school to 30 from 3 schools. We have had a1000% increase in the number of girls on our team, creating a 1:2 female to male ratio.All of our team members contribute to changing our culture through science andtechnology.

Like most engineers, we keep things organized. To do this, our team is run like abusiness. We have two directors, one in charge of Engineering and another in charge ofPublic Relations, as well as 6 department managers. Our major goals include creatingand maintaining yearlong partnerships, spreading FIRST, and serving the community.

Cows In SchoolOur team also seeks to spread excitement to fellow students and share the positiveimpact of FIRST. Down the main hallway of High Tech High (HTH) are our ʼ07 and ʼ08robots. Holy Cow shirts are the only t-shirts allowed in our dress code, and can be seenon Holy Cow spirit day when the campus is enveloped in black and white. Students ateach of our schools are excused from class to cheer on the team at the SD Regionalevery year. Since 2005, The Holy Cows have made at least two annual presentations atHTH, HTH International and HTH Media Arts. Through these presentations we havebeen able to reach over 1,500 students every year, making The Holy Cows the mostpopular team and an unofficial school mascot.FIRST and The Holy Cows have had a great impact on the learning experience of thestudents. Students have the opportunity to work in machine shops, like those ofBlueChip Machine and Fabrication, giving them real world knowledge and a hands-onexperience. Each build season the team works with mentors, accumulating an average

of 200 hours per member. Through FIRST, students gain an appreciation forengineering and technology, in addition to pursuing interests in related college majorsand careers. All of The Holy Cow Alumni have gone on to college and 95% havepursued engineering, math or science related majors. Alumni have secured $100,000 inscholarship funds, including over $50,000 from FIRST. Ultimately, FIRST has taughtstudents that engineering and science is fun, exciting and most importantly, accessibleto everyone.

FIRST has nearly as great an impact on the HTH curriculum as it has on our members.HTH was founded with a vision to pursue project-based learning; robotics has allowedthis aspiration to flourish. In 2006, our lead mentor David Berggren and the teamproposed a new idea to the school; intersession. This course takes place for 2 weeksand is devoted to 1 topic all day, everyday. It happens to coincide with build season,giving the team 2 weeks of school devoted to robotics. Each year The Holy Cowsamass over 2,400 work hours during Intersession. Intersession has developed since2006 to become a program that provides a robotics course, as well as other immersionsin science and technology-related fields.

Robotics is more than just HTHʼs most popular team; it is an X-Block class and seniorproject. X-Block is an elective class that occurs 2 days a week, giving The Holy Cowsover 170 work hours per semester. The robotics elective has been instrumental inrecruiting new members, as it gives students a chance to experience robotics duringand after school. Our widespread involvement in the school is a year-round partnershipthat we are most proud of.

Cows In IndustryThe Holy Cows have made an impact on many others outside of our team and school.The 11 professional engineers who work with the team year-round are given freshperspectives. With students and industry professionals working together, we arecreating a more experienced and dedicated work force for the future. Team membershave worked with companies such as: Qualcomm, SPAWAR, SeaBotix, BlueChipMachine and Fabrication, Earth Care Associates, Entropic Communications, Symwave,Cubic, and Scope Prosthetics. The team has presented at 3 conventions in the past twoyears, reaching major companies and consequently spreading FIRST further into thetechnology and engineering community. While we have been able to gain sponsorships,internships, and jobs by attending such conventions, we were more excited to know thatcompanies like SolidWorks, Lockheed Martin, and NDIA were excited by FIRST.

Cows in CommunityIn the true spirit of FIRST, The Holy Cows have helped to promote an appreciation forscience and technology in the broader community. Since 2007, we have helped to startand mentor 3 FLL teams, 4 FTC teams, and 5 FRC teams. In volunteering at events likethe Southern California FLL State Championship, the FLL San Diego County Qualifier,Sally Ride Science Fair, Curie Craft Fair, University City Celebration and 12 school

presentations (to name a few) we have reached nearly 40,000 people, just this year. Inthe last 2 years, The Holy Cows have accumulated over 4,500 hours in communityservice.

When it comes to spreading FIRST to others, things are not so black and white for TheHoly Cows; we have always sought to be innovative and reach as many people aspossible. One of our main goals is to inspire kids to get involved in FIRST from an earlyage. At community events The Holy Cows have been able to reach 20,000 kids whenwe showcase past robots and setup a mini-robotics playing field. In this way childrencan get hands on experience with the robots and become more interested inparticipating in FIRST.

The Holy Cows also aim to build relationships with parents. We are always equippedwith FIRST pamphlets, team videos, and the ability to answer questions. Parents oftensign up for our e-newsletter to acquire more information about FIRST and how to startor join a team of their own. This type of outreach is a goal because our team parentsare some of the most dedicated supporters we have. In 2009 The Holy Cows gained 7new parent mentors, all of whom donate their time and expertise to the team throughhelping with programming aspects of the robot, editing for the Public Relations team, orsimply bringing in some homemade food; our parents spend almost as much time at

school as the team members.The Holy Cows have spread FIRST through the use of the media, too. The team wasspotlighted in an Edutopia article discussing the importance of project-basedlearning. Team 1538 has been spotlighted on WEALTH TV in a special about FIRST.For this special, a camera crew followed the team through build season andcompetition. The teamʼs spirit has even caught the eyes of Oprah Winfrey and BillGates who visited HTH in 2006 where we were interviewed, filmed, and debuted in asegment on national television. The team has been present in 10 televisionappearances and 6 newspaper articles. In all of these appearances, the excitement ofthe team and our dedication to FIRST was always quite moo-ving.

Cow PartnershipsThe team does not make a mere 6 week commitment, we work together year round. Weparticipate in many off-season events and team building activities. The team continuesto stay together, even those who have graduated. Every year we gain at least two newmentors from our alumni and, beyond that, we stay in contact with all of them throughan Alumni e-mail list. This allows The Holy Cowsʼ Alumni to stay connected to FIRST toensure that they share their experiences with future generations.

Lasting partnerships are not solely held within the team itself, we work continuously withour mentors and sponsors. Our off-season is largely comprised of presentations tocompanies that include a personal update on the team. This year we raised a total of$10,000 in funding through 5 presentations made to sponsors. The Holy Cows have

also developed a relationship with San Diego State University (SDSU), through severalmentors who help the team with software and business management. This newlyacquired partnership demonstrates mentor dedication to the fields of science andtechnology, as well as providing inspiration to team members. The team showsappreciation for everyone involved during our Sponsor Banquet. This strengthens ourrelationship with mentors and sponsors, allowing us to officially thank them for whatthey do for the team. At this banquet we also award 1 scholarship to a student who hasbest exemplified the principles of FIRST.

We have made it a consistent goal to work with and mentor other teams. This year webecame the host team of Team San Diego (TSD), a coalition of all of the San DiegoFIRST teams. As the host of TSD, the team holds monthly meetings and organizesTSDʼs events. This year our mentor Jon Jack was elected chairperson of TSD. Evenbefore this, we have hosted the SD Kick-Off event in January. Every year weaccommodate over 300 participants from 27 Southern California teams. In addition,The Holy Cows participate in the TSD Pre-Ship Expo which allows the 22 TSD teams totest their robots on a full-size playing field built by the team, and provides for greatmedia coverage. Last year, we were featured by 4 television stations and 2newspapers. This season we began a series of annual workshops with TSD; the rookiecrash course, an introduction to the new control system and drive trains. One of ourmentors traveled to Texas for FIRST control system training and held 3 additionalworkshops to help other teams. Through these workshops we were able to assist all

TSD teams in the transition to the new control system and share our knowledge fromover the years.

Cows in FIRSTGracious professionalism and the promotion of science and technology have becomemore than ideals for The Holy Cows. We recognize the importance of an active interestin FIRST and embrace that through activities such as volunteering and mentoring,which impact our greater community. Through all our work together and with others,Team 1538 has come to truly embody and spread the importance of FIRST.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Award Submission TimelineThere are several awards that are judges and need to be submitted online by mid February.The Chairman’s Award, the Woodie Flowers Award, and the Entrepreneurship Award must be submitted through the FIRST Student Team Information Members System (STIMS) https://my.usfirst.org/stims/site.lasso. The FIRST Dean’s List Award must be submitted by the team’s main or alternate contact through TIMS, https://my.usfirst.org/frc/tims/site.lasso.The Safety Animation Video Animations must be submitted by your team’s student award submitter in STIMS, https://my.usfirst.org/stims/site.lasso by mid December

Below is a sample of how we setup our timeline

October:Have an awards submission meetingAssign Job:

○ Submissions - writers, editors■ Chairman’s■ Woodie Flowers■ Dean’s List

○ Executive Summary - writers, editors○ Videos - editors, filmographers, interviewers○ Business plan - writers, editors

■ Set up deadlines for :○ Chairman’s Outline○ First Draft of Chairman’s○ Second Draft of Chairman’s○ Third Draft of Chairman’s○ Final Draft of Chairman’s○ Woodie Flowers Outline○ First Draft of Woodie Flower’s○ Second Draft of Woodie Flower’s○ Third Draft of Woodie Flower’s○ Final Draft of Woodie Flower’s○ Dean’s List Outline○ Dean’s List First Draft○ Dean’s List Second Draft○ Dean’s List Third Draft○ Dean’s List Final Draft○ Presentation Outline○ Presentation First Draft○ Presentation Second Draft○ Presentation Final Draft

Work on Storyboard for Safety Animation Video - Be sure to check the FIRST site for the “Theme” of the video it changes annually

November:Week 1- Chairman’s outline, Presenters picked, Chairman’s video idea

brainstorming, begin creating Safety Animation Award

Week 2 - 1st draft of Chairman’s submission, Choose Woodie Flowers and Dean’s List nominee, begin gathering information for Business Plan, Finalize Safety Animation Award

December:Safety Animation Video due early in the month

Week 1 - 2nd draft of Chairman’s submission, Outline for Chairman’s Presentation, Woodie Flowers, Video storyboard, 1st draft of Executive Summary and Essay, Submit the Safety Animation Award

Week 2 - 1st draft of Chairman’s Presentation Dean’s List and Woodie Flowersnomination, begin, Chairman’s video recording, draft of Business Plan

January:Week 2 - 3rd draft of Chairman’s submission, 2nd draft of Chairman’s

presentation, Dean’s List & Woodie Flowers, begin editing the Chairman’s video. Pick pictures for Chairman’s submission, Woodie Flowers and Deans List submission.

Week 3 - Edit Chairman’s submission as a group, 3rd draft of Chairman’s presentation Dean’s list & Woodie Flowers nominees, continue Chairman’s video, check facts and edit Business Plan

Week 4 - Go over Woodie Flowers as a group, Finalize Dean’s List nominee, get input on video from team members, make final edits to submission and presentation

February:Week 1 - Work on the final drafts of Chairman’s submission, Dean’s List and

Woodie Flowers nominees and Business Plan

Week 2 - Submit all awards, Chairman’s Submission and pictures, Woodie Flowers nominee and pictures and Dean’s List nominee and pictures

Mid February usually around Stop Build Day Awards must be submitted online. Don’t forget that FIRST uses east coast time so if you are on the west coast 12:00pm means 9:00 am on the west coast.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How to connect with your local politiciansDear Politician,

As a member of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics Team 1538 - “The Holy Cows”, I would like to express the importance of FIRST, an organization whose goal is to inspire young people to become science and technology leaders. This is done by engaging students in exciting mentor-based programs that include building 120 lb robots. This program inspires innovation, fosters the growth of well-rounded students, and teaches students communication and leadership skills necessary for their success. As a (their position

here), you have the opportunity to educate your constituency on the importance of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education.

FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen in Manchester, New Hampshire. His objective was to inspire an appreciation for science and technology in young people through a hands-on robotics program. FIRST motivates young people to pursue opportunities in STEM and grants over $14 million through 736 scholarships annually. Through the support network of more than 3,500 corporations, institutions, and individuals, FIRST organizes four programs inspiring more than 220,000 K-12 youth in STEM education and career exploration:

- FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) (High School Students)- FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) (High School Students)- FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) (9-14 years)- Junior FIRST LEGO® League (JFLL) (6-9 years)

The Holy Cows, FRC Team 1538, incorporate FIRST’s goals in everything we do. Our team of 67 students, from High Tech High, prepares team members for success in the academic environment and beyond. Our team has also grown in the number of girls who participate; beginning in 2005 with an all male team and growing to a team with over 20 girls (1/3 of our team), and our team is also proud to have 95% of our alumni pursuing STEM majors in college and 100% attending college. In addition, the Holy Cows work year round to cultivate an appreciation for STEM in our school and community. As a team, we discover new ways to make our work more beneficial to all. In the past year we’ve completed over 5,000 hours of community service through river clean-ups, mentoring elementary school FLL teams, and running robotics events.

FIRST’s aspects and customs are designed to prepare it’s members for the future. One value, Gracious Professionalism, encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and cultivates respect for competitors and the community. With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Members learn and compete, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended and will help each team member as they pursue a meaningful life.

With each new year, new faces and visits from several very influential people have graced The Holy Cow’s engineering lab. One of our most memorable visits was an interview with Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Oprah Winfrey for a special piece on schools educating students in extraordinary ways. On their trip through our school, special attention was given to our robotics team because we are bridging the gap between work and fun. Both were astonished at how we are required to design and build a robot in six weeks.

Also, on October 17th, 2009, The Holy Cows orchestrated the first ever city-wide FIRST day with the help of Mayor Jerry Sanders. Along with the San Diego FIRST Day, The Holy Cows recently appealed to the San Diego Unified School Board and encouraged them to support FIRST programs and volunteer teachers. In addition, this past December we attracted the attention of new FIRST president, Jon Dudas, as he toured the west coast.

I would like to invite you to visit us at High Tech High and observe firsthand the incredible experience of a thriving FIRST team. Your participation in promoting and endorsing FIRST, while embracing the FIRST goals as your own, is essential to our continued success. I appreciate your time and your service to our community and look forward to speaking to you about FIRST and the Holy Cows.

Sincerely,

Your nameTitleTeam number & nameSchool nameCity, Statecontact e-mailphone number

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Best Practices For Community Outreach

Outreach is how a team engages in the community, the effort it takes to reach out to both contacts and strangers, and its endeavours to spread awareness for FIRST and STEM. Here are techniques that The Holy Cows have found useful for outreach in our community.

General Volunteering Events (unrelated to FIRST)● First find where you’re going to do your outreach. (See Creating Relationships in the

Community) It’s very useful to build long-standing relationships and return to events annually, so the organization will become familiar with your team and so it’s easier for you to plan your yearly schedule.

● If you have the opportunity to promote FIRST at a non-FIRST event, go for it! Ask the organization to see if you can set up a table with flyers and interactive material. We like to bring square-bots to events at schools or community fairs; kids can drive the robots while parents learn about FIRST by talking to team members. During many events you won’t have the opportunity to set up your own table, so take that chance to simply have fun with the event, help out as best you can, and leave by making a positive impact on the community and the people hosting the event.

● Make it a priority to bring the amount of people that you say you will, and be punctual.

FIRST Events (FLL/FTC/FRC competitions, off-season competitions)● Invite as many people as you can to come to the event. This may not be realistic for a

FLL Qualifying Tournament (QT), but it’s a good idea for a FRC Regional. Every year, we invite as many people as we can to the San Diego Regional; sponsors, politicians, media, parents, our school, and the general public. You can do that through emails, social media (Facebook), and handing out flyers.

● If you have VIPs coming to a FIRST event (such as a politician, sponsor, or the media), make sure you have experienced members from your team to show them around, explain the event, and answer any questions.

● Find out if there are other VIPs coming that your team did not invite and see if there’s a chance your team members can talk to them. If another team invited the VIP, be respectful and don’t try to steal them away, but it’s always good to say hello and introduce yourselves.

Politicians● If your team has no political contacts, start small and work your way up. It may take

several years, but if you begin by talking to district education officials, you can progress to talking to general city officials, the mayor, and then eventually to the state department.

● City officials will be your best friends; though they are frequently busy, many of them have a strong interest in supporting STEM education, and they are more readily available than state officials.

● Invite politicians to major FIRST events. If you have an established relationship with a politician, make the invitation personal.

● Research or ask about how you could get a city FIRST Day declared. It differs between cities, but generally if you’ve found a contact who loves FIRST, they are happy to support it by declaring a city day.

● Never let a contact trail off. Email the politician at least a few times a year, and make sure to introduce new members as veterans graduate.

Media● Like with politicians, start small. It’s much easier to get local or neighborhood

newspapers to write an article about you (or accept an article that your team submits), and then work up to citywide papers as your team gains prominence in the community.

● Though we’ve found newspapers as the best place to start, also look at online news, television, and radios.

● If you attend professional conferences, many times media will also be present. Talk to them and build contacts.

● Again, invite the media to major FIRST events and make sure that you retain media contacts.

School● Be involved! Make sure your school knows about you and is excited for you. Encourage

your team members to talk to other students about robotics. Attend school-wide meetings and show off your robots. Have a display case with some information about your team and awards you’ve received.

● Have a school spirit day, and encourage people to come to the local regional (if close by). Around the time of the San Diego Regional, The Holy Cows host a school-wide meeting where we talk about the game, present our robot, and invite people to come to watch us compete. And of course - we’ve been advocating that on the day of our

meeting, people come to school dressed in black and white, sporting cowbells and Holstein spots.

● Sell team merchandise! The Holy Cows have a supporter shirt that we sell to non-team members, which is nearly identical to team shirts but with inverted colors and without sponsors. Many students and parents have bought shirts, which is wonderful for both spirit and fund raising. Bracelets are also popular.

Sponsors● Send out a monthly update to keep sponsors in the know of what your team is doing.● Invite your sponsors to all major events, both to thank them and to show what you’re

doing.● Ask to see if any employees could mentor you during the build season.

Social Media ● Have an active presence in whatever social media is most convenient to you. Our most

successful media is our Facebook page, where a team member or mentor can easily post pictures or status updates with a smartphone. Whatever social media becomes your favorite, make sure that you can and do update it regularly.

● On your social media, apart from posting about your events, make sure to include photos, videos, and material to interact with your followers.

● Find a way to reach out to people who do not have social media. We send out a monthly newsletter from www.mailchimp.com that goes to our sponsors, alumni, and parents.

+++++++++++++++++++++++Using Social Media

Social Media is a great way to promote your team and communicate with supporters, family members, sponsors and the general public. Be sure you always have plenty of clear and consistent marketing ideas.

The following are a few ways we use our Social Media marketing:

Monthly Newsletter~This is a great way to keep sponsors, families, alumni, team members and outreach connections informed on what your team is doing and what events you are attending.It is usually good to have three or four team members responsible for collecting outreach info and pictures and writing up a newsletter. We have found that MailChimp is a great and easy way to create a newsletter.

Google Calendar ~ Our team uses this to keep track of all of our meetings, deadlines for submissions, conferences, outreach events and community service events. We have two team members responsible for updating the calendar for our website.

Facebook~Facebook is a great way to keep your community and alumni updated with your team. You can also share upcoming events with team members and parents, this helps make communication easier.

● Create daily posts to include info, pictures, links and questions that relate to the team, FIRST and/or STEM

● Have one or two people who can be responsible for replying to post and or messages that come in within 24 hours, be sure that they communicate with each other.

● Search out relevant Facebook pages to “like”● Actively share and comment on other “liked” Facebook page posts● Post on other “liked” Facebook pages when relevant

Twitter ~ Twitter allows you to quickly update your followers on how your team is doing, and keep in touch with other teams.

● Have one person post Tweets that may be different from Facebook - info, pics, links and questions that relate to the team, FIRST and/or STEM

● Respond to comments within 24 hours● Search out relevant twitter users to follow● Actively engage with other users and create a dialogue via reply and retweets● Monitor FIRST key terms on twitter and google - #omgrobots, “The Holy Cows”,

“Team 1538”, “Dean Kamen”, “FIRST Robotics”

Digital Media ~ By using digital media, you can:

● Arrange for team members to be at EVERY event to take pictures and/or video. Make sure they get it uploaded to a team’s photo sharing account

● Ensure photos are organized / categorized● Develop Animoto videos for key categories of photos - Past robots, Outreach Events,

Awards, etc● Post video onto a team Youtube account and share with other teams● Coordinate a team member to take video and pictures at competitions, including off

season events, outreach, team meeting and build season

Website ~Here are some things to keep in mind while working on your website:

● Be sure that website is up to date● Be sure that you have current contact information on your website so anyone can

get in touch with you easily● Provide info of managers and mentors, including a short summary of the position

and a biography of the student or mentor● Provide pictures and summaries of past robots● Don’t forget functionality and convenience, keep links working and together

Team Blog~Daily updates of what your team has done helps keep all your members up to date if they ever miss a day.

● Ensures that events are posted on the blog within 2 days of the event● Post a minimum of 1x per week● Each post should contain at least one large engaging photo or video.● Be sure to tag post so someone looking for a specific topic on your blog can find

it easily

Public Blog ~This is a great way to communicate with your followers about what your team has done at an event, conference, workshop or tournament.

● Ensures that events are posted on the blog within 2 days of the event● Post a minimum of 1x per week● Each post must contain at least one large engaging photo or video.● Bookmark each post (Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, etc)● Set up a Google Reader to follow other FIRST and/or STEM blogs● Comment on other blogs

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++How to Write a Good Press Release

When you need to contact the local media with your press release or news alert, email is almost always the best way to do it. You want your email message to be opened, to be read and to spark interest. In the worst case scenario, your email might not even get seen by a living, breathing person, because a computer program filtered it out. Many news desks have automated systems called spam filters that are designed to prevent junk mail from reaching inboxes. To avoid getting filtered, don't use any kind of attachments with your email, either documents or images.

Never Send a Press Release as an AttachmentSending your press release as an attachment to your email message (for example, as a Microsoft Word document) is a fairly common and very big mistake. Many news media outlets will not accept email that contains attachments, because they can contain computer viruses.Instead, simply copy your text and paste it into the body of your email message. It's also best to stick with "plain text" and stay away from special text formatting in your message. Send images only to people who have requested them, or who already know who you are and what to expect.

Make a Great First ImpressionThe subject line of your email is the most important part of the message, and it can make or break your email campaign. A good subject line will give the editor an instant feel for what your press release is about, so she can decide if your story offers a good fit. If you have a strong press release headline, use it in the email subject line.

Use Both Upper and Lower Case LettersDON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS! It's annoying, hard to read, and suggests that you don't know what you are doing.

Address Your Emails to Recipients IndividuallyIt's best to send each email individually and to address each one to a specific person. This is much more effective than doing "mass emailings," because people like personal attention and to be addressed by name.Sending your emails one by one is time consuming but highly recommended. It also gives you the chance to personalize your press release email with special comments to the recipient. If you must send email in groups, this is one way to do it. Take a group of email addresses, paste the group into the blind carbon copy ("Bcc") field of your email message. Placing the emails as a group in the Bcc field will prevent the multiple recipients from seeing who else received the message.

Sample of a good press release

CONTACT: Your NameContact phone numbercontact e-mail

BATTLE AT THE BORDER: FIRST Robotics Competition Hosted by Local Robotics Teams Celebrates Science and Technology Leaders; City of San Diego Proclaims FIRST Day______________________________________________________________San Diego, CA. October 11th, 2011 - On October 15th, “Battle at the Border”, a robotics competition, will take place at Francis Parker High School in Linda Vista. In addition, the competition will play host to the San Diego County’s FIRST Day. FIRST Robotics Teams 1538: The Holy Cows from High Tech High, and 2485: W.A.R.Lords (We Are Robot Lords) from Francis Parker, will be co-hosting this event.

“Battle at the Border” is an off-season robotics competition where FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) teams from around Southern California will come to compete. This event will give the San Diego community an opportunity to see the impact that FIRST robotics has on students. The public is highly encouraged to come and watch the teams compete.

Teams competing will also be raising money for charities. Fundraisers will be held throughout the day, supporting the Breast Cancer Society and San Diego Food Bank. This event will also play host to San Diego County’s annual FIRST Day, a day dedicated to showcasing FIRST

programs around San Diego, spreading appreciation for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professionals, spreading awareness of FIRST, and encouraging young people to pursue STEM careers.

FIRST is an organization founded by Dean Kamen (known for inventing the Segway and the portable dialysis machine), to promote a culture change where science and technology are truly celebrated. FIRST consists of four major programs, Junior FIRST Lego League (for ages 6-9), FIRST Lego League (for ages 9-14), FIRST Tech Challenge (for ages 14-18), and FIRST Robotics Competition (for ages 14-18), all of whom will be attending to present to the public. These programs engage students with exciting mentor-guided activities which help build skills in science, engineering, and technology, as well as inspire innovation, and foster well-rounded life capabilities. Through FIRST, students also gain self-confidence, communication and leadership skills.

The “Battle at the Border” committee consists of FRC Team 1538: The Holy Cows and Team 2485: The W.A.R.Lords, who have made it their goal to spread the message of FIRST throughout their communities.

The Holy Cows are a nationally ranked team whom have won the Chairman’s Award, FIRST’s most prestigious award, three years in a row at the San Diego Regional, and were Champions at the Silicon Valley Regional in 2011. Through outreach, community service, and mentoring, The Holy Cows are determined to create a culture which truly celebrates STEM professionals.

The W.A.R.Lords spread the message of FIRST by mentoring FIRST Jr. Lego League and FIRST Lego League teams to help kids discover a passion for STEM topics. In addition, they help generate interest in FIRST via on and off-site demonstrations, new curriculum at their school, and encouraging other members of the community to get involved with FIRST and STEM related activities.

# # # # #Pictures available upon request

About The Holy Cows: Team 1538 - The Holy Cows are a local FIRST Robotics team competing in this season’s game along with 30 other San Diego FRC teams. Based in High Tech High, The Holy Cows are an internationally ranked team whom have won the Chairman’s Award, FIRST’s most prestigious award, four years in a row, at the San Diego Regional and were Champions at the Silicon Valley Regional in 2011. Through outreach, community service, and mentoring, The Holy Cows are determined to create a culture which truly celebrates STEM professionals. For more information visit: www.team1538.com

About FIRST: Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST ® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to

pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from three out of every five Fortune 500 companies and nearly $14 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST ® Robotics Competition (FRC® ) and FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC®) for high-school students, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico) and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL®) for 6 to 9-year-olds. Gracious Professionalism™ is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Public Relations Packing List

-Banner - Show off your team and sponsors!-Broom/ Dust Pan - Keep your workspace clean-Business plan (2)-Buttons - Show team spirit and pass out buttons!-Business Cards - You never know when someone may want to contact and or sponsor your team -Computer and Charger-Copy of Executive Summary-Copy of Essay Question-Copy of Chairman’s Submission-Clipboards - 3 or 4 with Pens-Extension Cord-Power Strip-Scissors-Shelves-Tablecloths-Trash CanMiscellaneous Items-First Aid Kit

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Community ServiceCreating Relationships in the Community

Parent involvmentthese are the same