FIRST Robotics Volunteers for Bedford Tournaments!

Bedford Express currently hosts Tournaments at 3 different levels, JFLL (K - 3rd grade), FTC (6th - 8th grade) and FRC (high school).   These tournaments are volunteer driven, so we need you! :)   If you would like to volunteer at any of our tournaments here is how to sign up!

JFLL (K - 3rd grade):  Saturday, December 14, 2013  (7 AM - Noon)

• Volunteers are needed to help sign in and escort teams around.  A description of volunteer positions can be found HERE!
• Sign up as if you were volunteering for the FTC event (see below) and in the notes, please put that you would like to work the JFLL event.  

FTC (Middle School):  Friday, December 13, 2013 - Saturday, December 14, 2013

• Friday 3:00 PM - 10 PM
• Saturday 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM 
• If you would like to help in our concession stand, you do not need to register in VIMS.  Concession workers should contact our concession chairs, Broderick Gin or Tanya Brothers, or sign up HERE.  
• Positions Available range from crowd control to inspections, to judging and everything in between.  Most positions require no knowledge of robotics.   Some positions do require video training.  
• A more detailed description of positions, and the training required can be found HERE. 
• Judges and inspectors cannot have any affiliation with any team competing at the event.
• Register in VIMS (Volunteer Information Management System) Tutorial
• Create an account, OR Log in to your account HERE.  
• If you just created an account, you will need to create your profile, log out, then return to the page and log in again to move to the next step. 
• Click on the "Apply for an Event" link.
• Select FTC - FIRST Tech Challenge
• Select Michigan in the drop down bar.
• Click "Find an Event" 
• Click "Select" for the MI FTC Bedford Express Qualifier
• Add up to 5 jobs you are interested in, in the order of interest, by clicking the "add" button after clicking on the job.  
• Check mark the days you are available to help.
• Type anything you want to let us know. 
• Click submit!  You are done!!! :)

FRC (High School)  April 3, 2014 - April 5, 2014

• Wednesday Set-up helpers are needed from 3:00 PM - 11:00 PM.  
• Thursday 4:00 PM - 11:00 PM
• Friday 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
• Saturday 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
• If you would like to help in our concession stand, you do not need to register in VIMS.  Concession workers should contact our concession chairs, Broderick Gin or Tanya Brothers, or sign up here(coming soon).  
• A description of volunteer positions may be found HERE!
• Register in VIMS (Volunteer Information Management System)  Tutorial
• Create an account, OR Log in to your account HERE.  
• If you just created an account, you will need to create your profile, log out, then return to the page and log in again to move to the next step. 
• Click on the "Apply for an Event" link.
• Select FRC - FIRST Robotics Competition
• Select Michigan in the drop down bar.
• Click "Find an Event" 
• Click "Select" for the MI FRC Bedford District
• Add up to 5 jobs you are interested in, in the order of interest, by clicking the "add" button after clicking on the job.  
• Check mark the days you are available to help.
• Type anything you want to let us know. 
• Click submit!  You are done!!! :)
• Follow the same directions above for the FTC, however select FRC - FIRST RObotics Competition instead of FTC.  

If you have questions about volunteering, please contact event coordinator, Debbie May, or Volunteer Coordinator, Sandy Smith.  

Week of November 11, 2013

Week of November 11, 2013

Please try to check the blog on Thursday in case there are any travel updates.  

Practices:  

• Thursday:  7 - 9 pm 
• Competition Practices for Girls Drive Team and Pit Crew: 
• Monday 6:30 - 9:00 PM
• Tuesday 6:30 - 9:00 PM
• Wednesday 6:30 - 9:00 PM 

• ANYONE is welcome at ANY practice!  There has been some question about whether rookies can attend Saturday practices.  Yes, you can!  (BUT, there is no Sat. practice this week due to comp.)
• FLL/FTC Mentors still needed!!  We are moving into crunch time for our younger robotics friends.  if you have some free time, stop by the robotics center and help out with their skit, presentations, robot, or tri-boards. Their coaches would be very appreciative of it.   

Tournament Information:

• Rides (Meet at the front of BJHS at 3:00)
• May:  Taylor, Stacee & Dianna  
• Poskarbiewicz:  Erin & Courtney  
• Howell:  Kira, Kelsie, Emily & Allison
• Dobson:  Abby & Olivia
• Hotel:  
• Drury Inn, Troy
• Bring Swimsuit if you want to swim
• "Happy Hour" snacks will be at the hotel (wings, etc) 
•  We plan to check in and relax in the hotel for a little bit before we go over to the event. 
• Hot Breakfast included
• Wi-Fi included
• Competition:
• Bloomfield Hills High School,  3456 Lahser Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
• Competition Information can be found here.  Results will be posted there as well.
• Opening Ceremony 8:45 AM
• Bring money for dinner on Friday (depending on how much the snacks fill you up), Lunch on Saturday and Dinner on Saturday.   
• Friday Night Goal (7:00 PM - 9:00 PM):  Check climb on tournament pyramids, set up pit.  Wear BX shirt.
• Saturday Competition T-shirts will be provided to those who have been at competition practices.  You will get your shirt at the hotel. They will be black and pink.  Plan your bottom half accordingly. :)
• Pits Close 5:30 PM
• Dinner stop and then home.  
• FOLLOW US ON TWITTER for results!  :)   https://twitter.com/bedfordexpress
• WE NEED YOU!!!!! If you are a member of BX, you should be making every possible attempt to be at this competition on Saturday.  If you cannot be there the entire day, be there when you can.  This is a team event, and we would love to see all 52 of you there on Saturday!   We would love for you all to join us for dinner after the event!  Let's kick our 2014 competition season off on a great foot!
• Upcoming Events:
• We are hosting our FTC and JFLL events on Friday and Saturday, December 13 - 14.  We are in great need for volunteers to help with this event.  If you would like to volunteer, please email Sandy Smith at ssmithmich@gmail.com for more information.   Also, we need ALL BX team members working at the event.  It is a team function and we are planning on you all.  If you cannot be there, you need to let me know asap.  

Week of Oct. 28

Week of Oct. 28

Thursday (10/31):  Practice Cancelled for Halloween

Saturday (11/2):  I will be at the center from 10 AM - 3 PM for anyone that wants to work on drive practice for the girls competition, or anyone that wants to work on any of the projects we normally work on at our Thursday practices.  Feel free to stop by for the full time, or part time.  Girls who make the drive team should plan to be here together for at least a couple of hours.

Open leadership positions:

• Business Managers:  I am looking for 3-4 students who are looking at being a leader in our administrative side.  These people will be our business managers.  You will need to be at practice 15 minutes early to help with money collection.  You will be instrumental in setting up our 2014 budget, and you will be creating our business plan.   
• Chairman's Lead:  This person will be responsible for organizing our chairman's essay, presentation and documentation.  They will lead chairman meetings with others in the group.  
• Safety Captains:  These people will lead our safety efforts.  You will monitor safe practices, and lead the safety meetings.  You will be in the pit during competitions and talking to judges.  
• Publications Lead:  This person will be responsible for leading our publications group.  You will be responsible for newsletters, webpages, social media, etc.  
• Chairman's Presentation Team:  These 3 individuals must present our chairman's presentation to the judges.  They are also responsible for editing the final essay.  It is preferred that the candidate have strong speaking skills and the ability to memorize speeches.  It is a high pressure position, so you must be able to maintain composure while stressed.  It is also important that these individuals not be interested in trying out for drive team.  If you are interested in being on the drive team, you should not apply for the chairman's presentation team.  This is often a multi-year commitment, because experience is vital in this presentation.  Please consider this carefully before applying.  

These positions are open to anyone on the team, however, preference will go to veteran members pursuing varsity status.  Applications for these positions must be completed by Friday, Nov. 1.  You can fill out an application here:  Leadership Application

VOLUNTEERS FOR TOURNAMENTS:  

Parents, team members, and mentors, if you are interested in helping with our FTC or FRC tournaments, you must register in VIMS.  We would like to fill most major roles with Bedford people.  In order to make this happen, we need you to sign up now.   If you have any problems creating or logging in your VIMS account, please talk to Sandy Smith, our volunteer coordinator for both events.  **Even if you already applied on our volunteer sheet for the FTC event, you must do it in VIMS.  This is new this year.*** 

VIMS can be logged into here:  VIMS    You can greatly help us out by signing up ASAP!   

 The December junior high  tournament is FTC, so select FTC, then Michigan, then look for the Bedford Event.  Volunteers are needed Friday night (Dec. 13) and Saturday all day (Dec. 14).   

For our high school events, we need parents and mentors who do not work with the team to volunteer.  Volunteers are needed for all 3 days of our event.  It runs Thursday beginning at 4:00 PM for official volunteers (April 3) through Saturday (April 6).   We will also need volunteers to help with set up on Wednesday night (April 2) and that can be entered in VIMS as well.   For this event, select FRC, then Michigan then our Bedford Tournament.  

Additionally, we need to send 2 volunteers to work at the Southfield Competitionn on February 28 - March 01. You can sign up in VIMS for this as well, but please let me know you have done so. Please be sure to put FRC 1023 in your team affiliations so that we get credit for you being there. :)

Volunteers that work at least 2 days at an event are giving a volunteer t-shirt.  Volunteers are also given free meals during their work shifts.  Volunteering at an event is a lot of fun.  You will get to see a different side of the event.  Most positions allow you to leave and watch our team when we are up. :)   Please sign up today if you are interested.

Additionally, we will be needing volunteers for our concession stand.  Please DO NOT sign up in VIMS if you want to work the Concession area.  This is a BX thing and not a FIRST thing. :)   We will be asking for volunteers for that soon.   :)

Have a safe and fun Halloween!  See you Saturday or next week!  If you have not yet turned in forms, please do so ASAP!!! Thanks!

Email List Sign Up Links

Due to the change over of email providers that the district has taken, I am no longer able to group email the team.   After looking at some options, Nick pointed me to Mail Chimp.  This is a great way for me to be able to communicate with different groups wanting to keep up to date on the robotics team.  To receive emails, you must sign up on the list.  Please see below for a description of the groups, and sign up for any that are appropriate to you.

STUDENT team members:  Emails are sent regarding deadlines, blog updates, day to day happenings on the team.  Emails that go to students also go to parents, but only students should sign up for this group.   CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

PARENTS:  Each team member should have at least 1 parent/guardian signed up for this list.  This group receives the same emails as students do, but also receives occasional emails directed solely to parents.  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

MENTORS:  This group is for anyone mentoring the team.  It will provide you with day to day happenings of the team, and mentor information.  Parent mentors should sign up for both lists.  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

ALUMNI:  This group is for alumni of BX and will provide a monthly update of the what the team has been doing, invitations to special events, and notifications of competitions.   CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

FRIENDS OF BX:  This group is for those family members or friends that would like a monthly update on the team, instead of the day to day workings of the team.    CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

CAPTAINS:  This group is for current captains and co-captains only.  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

BEDFORD ROBOTICS:  This group will receive monthly updates on what is happening in Bedford with FIRST Robotics for K-12th graders.  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Week of Oct. 21, 2013

Week of Oct. 21

Thursday (24):  Practice 7 - 9 PM    ALL DISTRICT EVENTS CANCELLED FOR TODAY!  BX PRACTICE IS CANCELLED!

• Yankee Candle Fundraising forms are due tonight.  Orders and money should be turned in at the beginning of practice.  It is always appreciated if you can turn in one check for the full order.  Checks should be made to BHS Robotics or Bedford Express Robotics.   PLEASE DROP THE CANDLE ORDERS OFF AT THE CENTER TONIGHT  BETWEEN 6:45 & 7:45 TONIGHT.  They need to be fed-ex'd tomorrow morning.  

Saturday (26):  Square Project and Female Training  10:00 AM - Noon  Optional!!!

Payment Guidelines:  Unless other wise noted, all checks should be made out to BHS Robotics for any fundraiser.   It is always appreciated if you can have your customers write a check to you, and you write one check to us.    Money should always be turned in at the beginning of practice.  No loose change please.   For security reasons, checks are always preferred.   

Security:  Due to some suspicious activity outside of our building, we are asking all students to leave in pairs, and to be alert to their surroundings. If anything is seen that is suspicious, please return immediately to the center.  Students are also being asked to stay inside the center until their ride has arrived.  Parents, if you can please text or call your student when you are here, they will know to come out then.   Thanks!

Week of Oct. 13

Week of 10- 13

Thursday:  Practice 7 - 9 PM - Full team!  - Pizza Orders are due.  Please bring your orders and money to practice!  Please also turn in forms!!!!  :)

Yankee Candle Orders are due 10/24!

All fundraising checks should be made out to BHS robotics or Bedford Express Robotics Boosters.  I would prefer the BHS robotics, but I put the wrong account on the flier, so either is ok.  :)

Tastefully Simple Fundraiser will be starting soon.

Elder Beerman booklets can be signed out at the center and sold through Nov. 14.  You can sign up to sell here:   Sign Up Here!   Or, view the list of those selling here:   Who's Selling?

Saturday:  Square project kiddos & ladies wanting to practice for the ladies tournament can practice Saturday from 10 AM - noon this Saturday.  This is optional for those wanting to work.

Huge thanks to everyone that attended the parents meeting.

Week of 10/7

Week of October 7th

Thursday, October 10:  7:00 - 9:00 ROOKIE PARENT MEETING:  This is a mandatory parent meeting for new team members and at least one parent/adult.   Veteran families, if you missed last week's parent meeting, you need to attend this one!

Other than the captains, no veteran students should be attending practice on Thursday.   We will only be doing our parent meeting!   See you next week!

Elder Beerman Sign Up:  I will add this link to our links post, but here is the form if you would like to sign up to sell at Elder Beerman:  Elder Beerman Sign Up Link

To see available dates, visit the spreadsheet here:  Elder Beerman Dates (I hope to update this with adults who signed up at the parent meeting tonight)

Remember, you can sign up for ANY day as long as you have an adult to go with you.  I need at least a week's notice to get you signed up with Elder Beerman though.  So, if you pick a date we have not already reserved, please be sure to send in your request at least a week in advance.

Pizza Fundraiser:  The dates have been extended a little.  Orders are now due on Oct. 17.  I need a couple of parents to pick up our order at Toledo Tech Academy on Oct. 23 at 1:30.   Pizzas need to be picked up at the center at 3:00 on Oct. 23.   They are frozen, so prompt pick up is important.

Yankee Candle Fundraiser:  Forms for this are also available at the center.

ALL checks for fundraising should be made out to BHS ROBOTICS.  If you can have your customers write checks to you, and then you write one big check, it is very helpful for our book keeping. :)

See new families on Thursday!!