July 29 - Aug. 2

BX Summer Camp Week:

Staff members should arrive at 8:30 AM for the morning session or 12:30 PM  for the afternoon session.  The morning sessions end at noon, and the afternoon sessions end at 4:00.  

If you are a group teacher, full attendance is mandatory.  If you are sick, please call me as soon as you know you will not be able to be at a session.  It is only fair to our campers that they have consistent leaders.  Please be sure Bekah, Dianna and I all know if there is a date you will not be there.

If you are working all day, pack a lunch or bring money for fast food.  Fast food runs will be made daily.   On Friday, pizza will be provided to those who have worked all week.

Thank you for performing this service to our younger students.  Many of our campers are not signed up to be on FIRST teams, so encourage them to participate if you see they are enjoying the camp.

There will be no evening practices this week.

Upcoming Events:
After camp, there will be no regularly scheduled robotics meetings until we kick off the fall. Times when Nick and I are working at the center will be posted here, and  you are welcome to come help if you wish.  Special presentations or activities that arise will be posted on the blog.

July 22 - 28

July 22 - 26:  Week 4 ISD Robotics Camp

Monday (22):  7 - 9 PM  - Camp training and preparations - Anyone working at our Bedford Express Camp should plan to attend this important training session!

Thursday (25):  6 - 7 PM - Captains Meeting   cancelled
                         7 - 9 PM - Team Meeting:  Finish arranging and preparing for summer camp

Saturday (27):  10 AM - 2 PM - Set up for camp (if needed, please watch facebook)


UPCOMING EVENTS:
Bedford Express Summer Camp:  July 29 - Aug. 2.  Students participating should arrive by 8:30 AM.  I am looking for some parents that would be willing to help provide lunches for the camp workers.  If you are interested/willing to help me with this, please let me know.  I am not looking for anyone to pay for it, just to help pick it up and bring it to the center during the lunch break so the workers have time to eat. :)

July 15 - July 21 **UPDATED**

July 15 - 19:  ISD Summer Camp Week 3
July 18:  Center clean up and Lego Sort  7 - 9 PM

 Saturday, July 20: The cookout has been rescheduled.  More information to come.  All available to help, please meet at the center at 10:00 AM to work on setting up for summer camp and organizing the center.  

At 11:00 we will head over to clean our road section.  Any parents able to help would be appreciated.  We will eat lunch at Pizza Primo after clean up, so please bring money for that, or bring a lunch.  

After lunch we will return to work on the center.  We will stay until around 2 or 3 for those able.  

Upcoming Events:  
July 22 - 26:  ISD Summer Camp Week 4

Monday, July 22:  7:00 PM - Summer Camp meeting for all of you that are working the BX summer camp.  Please plan to attend if you are working at summer camp.  

Thursday, July 25:  7 - 9 PM  Center rearranging continues


July 29 - Aug 2:  BX Summer Camp

July 1 - 5

No meetings this week.  This includes captains.  Enjoy the holiday!

Upcoming Events:
July 8 - 12:  ISD Summer Camp Week 2
July 9:  7-8PM  Captains Meeting (Captains & Co-Captains only)
July 11:  7 - 9 PM  Center rearranging continues
July 15 - 19:  ISD Summer Camp Week 3
July 16:  7-8PM  Captains Meeting (Captains & Co-Captains only)
July 18:  7 - 9 PM  Center rearranging continues
July 20:  Re-modelling and BX cookout -- ALL DAY
July 22 - 26:  ISD Summer Camp Week 4
July 23:  7-8PM  Captains Meeting (Captains & Co-Captains only)
July 25:  7 - 9 PM  Center rearranging continues
July 29 - Aug 2:  BX Summer Camp

June 24 - June 28

I am so proud of how all of you performed at the Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition!  MARC was a lot of fun.  We had a chance to see a lot of you perform as drivers, and Nick and I were very impressed with what we saw.  Even though we found ourselves in the bottom of the rankings for most of the events, you all still kept your heads up and did your best.  We saw some great driving even if we were losing matches.  Our veteran drivers did a great job of showing our climb, and Ms. SPOCKE FINALLY made peace with the blue pyramid and decided to play nice. :)  She was also very cooperative at MARC! :)

During the elimination rounds, our veteran drive team did such a great job on the field.  They made all 7 of their attempted climbs!  Winning the "Best Climber" trophy was a well-deserved trophy!  Doing our part to help our alliance win the tournament was a huge team effort, and I am very proud of our whole alliance.   I loved sitting by the Hilltoppers.  What a great team.  Their energy and enthusiasm made it a lot of fun cheering during our matches.  The positive vibe they had, the participation of all, the energy...all made them wonderful alliance captains, and something to strive for in our team.  They celebrate every accomplishment on the field, and I really liked that! Huge thanks to everyone that participated!

Here's what's coming up this week!  

Monday - Friday:  Monroe Co. ISD camp (Dianna, Stacee, Courtney, Parth).  Those riding with me should arrive at SRE at 7:45 AM on Monday.  We will meet at 8:00 the rest of the days, but I want to get there a little early for our first day.  If you cannot get to the school, let me know.  We should be back to the center by 3:30 - 4:00 each day.  

Tuesday (26):  5:00 - 7:00 Captains Meeting 

               7:00 - 9:00  Lego sorting party - Anyone that is available that can help us sort Legos so are kits are ready for our camps and for the season.  

Wednesday 7:00 - 9:00 PM  - Training session/Practice session for Friday's Presentation - Open to anyone that wants to get one of their presentations done for the year.  

Thursday (27):  7:00 - 9:00 PM - This was supposed to be our remodeling meeting, but I am not going to be able to attend.  Nick will still be meeting with all available to rearrange the basics (move the playing field to the east wall like we had it last fall), and we will still brainstorm changes.  Anyone wanting to input ideas for either decorative painting, or shelving ideas should still attend Thursday.  Nick will be making a shopping list of things we need to purchase to organize (and beautify) our center.  We will be meeting on a Saturday to actually do all that.  I will post that date soon. 

Friday(28):  Business presentation - I am still waiting for a lot of specifics.  I will fill in the blanks on Wednesday.  I would guess time commitment including travel downtown will be around 10 AM - 2 PM.  

Upcoming Dates:

We will be meeting informally on Thursdays from 7 - 9 this summer.  Come when you are able.

ISD Summer Camps:  July 8 - 12:  Dianna, Conner N., Stacee, Ethan, Parth

                                   July 15 - 18:  Conner N., Courtney, Parth

                                   July 22-26:  Dianna, Alex P., Parth

When combined with the VIRUS and TEMPEST volunteers we are pretty well covered except week 3.  We are very short there, with only 5 full time volunteers   We could also use 1-2 more for week 4.  

M.A.R.C. Competition

Here's what's coming up in the next couple of weeks.  

• Tuesday - 6/18 - Driver Practice for MARC 7:00 - 9:00 PM  - Anyone interested in driving, or working the pit crew should try to attend at least one of the practices this week.  New team members are encouraged to come check it out, meet the team, and learn about the robot!
• Wednesday 6/19 - Driver Practice for MARC 7:00 - 9:00 PM
• Thursday 6/20 - 
• 9 AM - 2 PM - Training session for ISD robotics camp workers - I REALLY need more of you to commit to at least one week of helping for this camp.  It is an excellent opportunity for you to learn essentials skills which will help you mentor FLL and FTC teams in the future.  It is also an excellent way for us to reach out to other schools in the county that do not have programs.  Please sign up today. Here is the application. No experience is needed, but I need to get names turned in.  So far I have 3 people for the June week, 1 for the July 8th week, and 1 for the July 22nd week.  I need at least one for the July 15th week, and I would really like to have 5-6 each week!  Please consider helping with this.  I can fit 4 in my car.  Free pizza at the training session and free lunches when you work at camp.  Great for your resumes, college applications, scholarship applications, Dean's List credentials, and great for our team!  NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED!
• 7:00 - 9:00 PM - Driver Practice for MARC 7:00- 9:00PM
• 10:00AM - 8 PM  MARC Set up - If you are interested in helping them set up for MARC, please contact Marjie, or myself. 
• Friday, 6/21 MARC – Schedule  BX will be arriving around noon.  Address/Information
• Saturday 6/22 MARC 8 AM - 5:30 PM  Please stay and help tear down if you are able.  
• 6/24 – 6/28 MCISD Summer Robotics Camp 1- 9:00 - 3:00
• 6/27 - 7:00 - 9:00 PM - Robotics Center Remodeling Meeting (anyone that wants to help us figure out how to best lay out the center, build shelving units, paint, etc.  Parents, mentors and team members welcome.  This is a planning session.)
• 6/28 - 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM  Downtown Business Presentation  - I need a couple of parents that can chaperone this presentation  help transport the kids and robot, and such, as I will be teaching the ISD class at this time.  I also need students to present at this luncheon for Toledo business owners.  This is a big opportunity  and when I set it up, I did not know I would be teaching the summer camp.  So, I need some people to help with this.  Please let me know if you can help with/participate in this presentation.   

A Note from Gail Alpert about the Broadcast of States!

It's finally time for the TV Broadcast of the State Championship.

When: Wednesday, May 29

Time:  8:00 PM

Where: WTVS (PBS) for viewers in Detroit/surrounding areas.

SIMULCAST on the Web: http://www.dptv.org/programs/robotics/

Check your provider for the channel number. Here are a few you can try:

U-verse 1056

Comcast 6 and 240

Bight House 11 and 211

If you miss the show and simulcast on Wednesday night, the show will be re-broadcast on Thursday at 4:00 PM.  There will be no simulcast at that time, but immediately following the Wednesday night simulcast, the show will be on demand at the same link:

http://www.dptv.org/programs/robotics/

Let's show Detroit Public Television what a large audience we are and how much we all love FIRST Robotics!