Pizza Fundraiser

If you did not turn your order in, please email me at bxcoach1023@gmail.com tonight the 1-2 letter abbreviations and the number of kits.  I have already emailed our order in, but I an add to it as long as I have them by tonight.  I will be in an inservice tomorrow and unable to get email.   Thanks!

Week of Feb. 23

Week of Feb. 23

Reminder:  First House to get to their house goal in 400 for $20 will be awarded 20 points and a t-shirt closet t-shirt each.  Our goal is to have this completed by Tuesday!

Last call for food!  Our food orders for Center Line, Escanaba and Bedford will be sent in Monday.  Please be sure you have ordered any food you want for events!  

Sunday 2/23- Practice 1 - 3 for those able to attend.  Priorities:

• Drive Team Practice on twin
• Chairman's Team
• Presentation
• Props
• Video
• Publications
• Judges Packet
• Business Team 
• Business Plan
• Strategy Team
• Pit Scouting Forms
• Match Scouting Forms

The goal is to have everything that needs to be printed finished today so that it can be printed tomorrow. 

Monday 2/24 - Practice 6 - 9 for Drive team, Pit Crew, Chairman's team & anyone else that needs to finish anything for competition.

Tuesday 2/25 - Practice 6-9  (Mandatory from 7-9)  Parent Drivers please attend from 7-8 if possible.  Rookie parents encouraged to attend.  All parents welcome.  

• Travel Rules and procedures
• Ride verification
• Competition Information
• Top House in 400 for $20 wins 10 points today

Wednesday 2/26 - Practice 6-9

• Finalize Chairmans, Strategy & anything else that needs to be finished.  
• Drive Practice with twin
• Finish packing preperations
• Load the Trailer (8:30PM?)  

Thursday 2/27 -No Practice - Those travelling to Center Line should meet at SRE as quick as possible after school unless your driver tells you otherwise.  We hope to be on the road by 2:45.  You may want to bring your packed travel bag to the center on Wednesday and then just bring a small bag to school with you of things you need in the morning.   I am trying to arrange a 5 or 10 minute early dismissal for those travelling.  I will update Monday.  We will be eating at some point, so bring money for dinner.   

Friday 2/28- Your driver will let you know what time you are leaving the hotel or Bedford.  Most people that are just coming up on Friday will need to be at CenterLine by 9 AM.  This means you will be leaving Bedford between 7 and 7:30 AM.  Remember to sign in with me when you arrive.  

Saturday 3/1 - Final day of competition!  Please do not leave early.  We will stick around to help for 30 minutes after the event, then we will head to a team dinner.  It will be late, we all will be tired, but when it is our turn to host the event, you will see how important it is that others help! We will be eating at our traditional after competition hang out, Red Robin.  So that we can send someone over immediately to let them know we are on our way, please fill out this survey if you plan to attend the dinner.  It is our hope that all team members attend.  It is a great ending to competition, and no matter how we perform, we end on a good note!  

Sunday 3/2 - No practice - Rest and Relax! 

Lunch at Competition

Lunch at Escanaba

If you are attending the tournament at Escanaba, please order your lunches here!  

Lunch at Bedford

If you would like to order food for Bedford, please do so here.

Lunch at Center Line

Coming Soon!

Last Call for Uniforms & Spiritwear, Week of Feb. 17

Last Call for Uniforms & Spiritwear, Week of Feb. 17

We are putting in one more uniform order this week.  Please be sure you have ordered anything you want for the season as I do not plan to order any more after this order.  Please have either spiritwear or uniforms orders in by Wednesday.

• Uniform Order Form
• Spiritwear Order Form

400 for $20 Campaign - We have launched our 400 for $20 campaign to earn money to pay for the charter bus for Escanaba, and for other 2014 needs.  Our goal is for every team member to try to find at least 8 people to donate $20.  The flier can be picked up at the center, or shared on line.  The link to the flier is here. 

This week(No homework time this week, if you need help, bring it to practice):
Monday (17) 6:00 - 9:00 PM   Practice is being cancelled due to the weather

Tuesday (18)- Lock Day:  Practice will be 6 - Lock up.  

Wednesday (19) - Day off for everyone!

Thursday (20) - 6:00 - 9:00 Practice

Friday (21) - To Be Determined - More than likely Drive team and chairman's presentation team.

Saturday (22) Unlock Day with RoboCubs (1701).  10 AM - 

Last Call for Polo's or Track Suits

Last Call for Polo's or Track Suits

Please order by Saturday if you want one.  We will not be re-ordering either of these later.  It is too late to order any other uniform items.

Polo:  There will be 2 lines of printing under the dot:  FIRST Robotics and your name or position

Track Suit Jacket:  

Last Call for Fundraisers

Last Call for Fundraisers

If you are looking for a way to earn money for travel, the opportunities are ending soon.  Don't miss out on our last few fundraisers.

• Yankee Candles:  Order forms are at the center.  Orders are due March 6, 2014.  Late orders will have a late fee added on to their shipping by Yankee.  This is such an easy fundraiser, as the brand sells itself.  In each packet is an envelope with instructions on how to sell online.  Online sales are credited to you, but you don't have to collect money, or deliver product as it is all done directly through the site.   Grab your envelope and try.  This is a nearly 40% profit fundraiser.
• Little Caesars Pizza Kits:  Order forms are available beginning tonight.  Orders are due Feb. 22.  The shipping date got moved forward on this, so there is a short window for selling.  Be sure to get your forms tonight or tomorrow so you can get started.   Orders will be delivered on March 5.  I need one or two people to volunteer to pick our order up from Toledo Tech Acad. (old Devilbiss high school) at 2:30, and bring them to the center to pass out .  Please let me know if you can help out.  
• Kroger:  This is the last quarter of the year.  You will need to renew in April.  Be sure to get your Quarter 3 receipts turned in.  They should be up by now, or in the near future.  4th quarter come too late for travel for this season, but can be banked for future years.  
• Candy Bars:  There are still a very small number of boxes of candy left to sell.  Please sign one out soon if you want to sell it.
• Elder Beerman Booklets:   We are winding down our EB sale.  Please sign up to sell, or check out any booklets you want to sell on your own.  Sale ends Feb. 28.  
• McDonalds Cards:  Any unsold McDonald's cards need to be returned on Saturday.  This is a great fundraiser because we earn money for Ronald McDonald House ($1 per card) and money for your travel!  We need to return any unsold cards to the distributor very soon, so please get them sold or returned.   

When these sales wrap up, there will be no more fundraisers for this season.  Please remember to make all fundraising checks payable to BHS Robotics.  One check for your full order is greatly appreciated!   

Week of Feb. 9

Week of Feb. 9

This is our last full week of build season!   Make sure you have completed the number of hours needed for your desired level of participation and travel.  Build season officially ends a week from today on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Travel documents have been submitted to Mr. Stalker.  If you have outstanding forms, you are not on the travel list.  I will be sending one more update to him on Friday.  If your forms are not in by then, you will not be attending competitions with us on school days.

Parents and mentors driving students:  I need your forms please.  We cannot get final approval for our trip until all of our chaperone forms are turned in.

As soon as I have all of the driver information turned in, I will be sending home ONE MORE form which must be signed and returned quickly.  Ideally, we will have these ready to hand out on Thursday.  If you can sign when you pick up, it will help us out greatly.  This is a huge deal with the change in procedures this year.

You can check if you have any outstanding forms HERE. Please get any missing forms to the center tonight. An "X" means that form is turned in.  A blacked out square means this is not a form you need to submit.  If you have questions, please see me tonight.

Here is what this week looks like:
Mon - Thurs.:  Homework time 5 - 6 PM, practice 6 - 9 PM.

Friday:  Pit Crew Practice 7 - 11 PM (probably later as students are able to stay)

Saturday:

• PICTURES:  Order forms can be printed from home, or picked up at the center.  Team picture at 11:00.  We hope to have everyone there for pictures, including mentors! :) 
• Pizza Lunch - Bring a few dollars for pizza
• UNVEILING:  2:00 - 4:00 Public event!  We hope to see all of you there 
• Dinner Break:  TBD
• Practice until midnight
• Lock - In - we will discuss on Thursday but we are looking at moving this to a weekend down the road.  

Sunday:  If the robot is ready, it will be used as a drive practice day.  Pit Crew should attend as able.  We anticipate being there 1-5, but this may be extended if we need more time.

Monday (President's Day) 2/17: It is possible that we may hold some practice for drive team and Chairman's presentation team during the day.  More info to come.  Regular practice will be 5-6 study, 6-11 practice. If time is needed, we may stay late so we are ready to lock up on Tuesday.  It depends on how the robot is going. More will be posted next weekend.

Tuesday (Lock Up Day)2/18:  Lock up time is midnight, and we will stay this late if need be.  Only those on drive team, or lead pit crew will stay that late, and only as parents permit.  Regular practice will be 5-6 for homework, and 6 - ? for practice.

Wednesday (2/19):  No Practice/homework time - Rest and Relax

Polo Shirts and Track Jackets

Polo Shirts and Track Suits

If you would like to order a polo or a track jacket &/or pants, please do so by Saturday.  The price of the Polo is $27.   They will look like the design below, however, they will say FIRST Robotics and then either your name or Parent or Mentor (1023 is already on the BX logo so we will not be putting it on the shirt under the circle like the picture.)

Uniform Order Form

Thursday, 2/6/13

Thursday, 2/6/13

We will be holding an optional team practice tonight from 6-9 pm.  No study session at 5.  It will be an optional practice though.  So, if you are not comfortable with attending, it is not required.

Please be sure you read the email and took care of everything in it.  Bring forms on Saturday if you are not attending today.

Feb 5 - Practice is Cancelled

Feb 5 - Practice is Cancelled

The district has cancelled all practices and events for tonight.  We will NOT be practicing.  The good news is, our robot came to life last night.  And, it moves very well.  It was exciting to watch!  So, as hard as a day off is at this point, we will be ok!   I am so proud of you all for your hard work and how much you have accomplished so far1   Enjoy a day off, introduce yourselves to your families again. :)

I will post info about a make up session.  It is not going to work in the hang out.  Thanks though.

  Parents who haven't attended a meeting yet.. I will be in a google hangout at 5 and 7 to try to get you all the information.  In order to get in the room, you must have a gmail account.  If you want to be invited, comment your gmail account (or email it to me) and the time you want to attend.  I can only have 9 people in at one time with me.  You do not need to have a video camera, but you will need a set of headphones or speakers to hear.  :)  Once you give me your info, I will send you directions.   Below are the basics.

Directions for Google Hangout:

1.  Create a gmail account if you do not have one.
2. Visit https://plus.google.com/‎ and create a Google Plus Account.
3. Visit www.google.com/hangouts/‎ and download required app for the hangout.
4. I will send you a link to join the hangout.  
5. When you get in the conference room, please disable your video feed (keeps the room moving better without lag) by clicking on the video camera icon at the top center of the page
6. You can also disable the sound by clicking on the Microphone.  Just make sure when you want to talk, you enable it. 
7. On the left menu (hover over the left side if you don't see it) click the blue/white chat bubble.  This will open a chat window on the right side of your window.
1. In this type of conference call, it is often best if you type your questions.
2. You can use this chat window to communicate to me if you don't have a microphone, or if you are having problems setting up your mic
8. If you do not have headphones, please mute your sound, or make sure background noise is limited.  When you don't have headphones, we hear everything that is said echo back because your mic pics it up
9. If you are having problems, ask you child to help you as many of them have done this for our hangouts.

Week of Feb. 2

Week of Feb. 2, 2014

Lots of important things that need to be done this weekend!!  If you have not done any of these, please get them done tonight!

• Uniform Orders - Deadline, Monday, Feb. 3 @ 3:00 PM
• 2014 Design - Front - Thank you Brandon for the great design!
• Backs will be similar to last year with updated sponsors.
• Spiritwear Orders - Deadline, Monday, Feb. 3 @ 3:00 PM
• 2013-2014 Design
• Fun Stuff Orders - Socks, Tutus, etc - Deadline, Sunday, Feb. 2 @ 5:00 PM

• Hotel Travel Information - Deadline, Sunday, Feb. 2 @ 5:00 PM

Here is a link to a document that has the updated important dates outside of our normal practices.  Please be sure to check it out!

• Important Dates  This has competition dates, and other important dates.

Parent Meetings:  All parents should attend ONE of the travel meetings scheduled this week!  Meetings will last an hour.

• Monday, Feb. 3 - 6:00 PM
• Tuesday, Feb. 4 - 6:00 PM
• Wednesday, Feb. 5 - 6:00 PM

2014 Uniforms!  Have you seen our new design?  Do you know a business is planning to sponsor us?  We need to have a commitment from them this week so they can get on our t-shirts.  Please touch base with me if you know of a sponsor that is not on the 2014 list, that is not on the list, please let me know immediately so that we don't miss anyone.   

• 2014 Sponsors to Date

Fundraiser Update:

• Yankee Candles:  Order Forms are here.  Sale ends March 6.  40%(minus shipping) Profit.  Please change the white paper to say make checks payable to BHS Robotics.  All fundraising should be made out that way.  Pick up your sales packet at the center.  Late fees are assessed by Yankee for any orders sent in late.  
• McDonald Cards:  We are halfway to our goal.  Please turn in money on Thursday for all cards sold.  This sale will be ending soon.
• Little Caesar Pizza Kits:  This sale will begin on Thursday, Feb. 13 and will be due early March.  
• Candy:  We have about 15 boxes left.  We will not be ordering more.  Please turn in any outstanding money. or return candy bars you are unable to sell.  

Practices:

• Sunday, Feb. 2:  Noon - ?
• Monday - Thursday:
• Study Time:  5:00 - 6:00
• Practice:  6:00 - 10:00
• Friday: GIRLS NIGHT!   Females ONLY unless Nick or I have asked you to attend.  
• 7:00 - midnight
• Saturday, Feb. 8:  10 AM - midnight 
• Lunch = Pascal
• TY to Tesla for last today's lunch!
• Sunday, Feb. 9:  noon - ?? 

12 days until Essays(Chairman's/Entrepreneurship/WF/Dean's List) must be submitted!!  14 days until unveiling!!!  17 days until we lock up!!!  27 days until our first competition!!!  Go Team!!