August 2014

For the most part, we are not active during August.  There are a couple of important events to put on your calendar.  Also, we would like to welcome our new leaders for the 2015 season.  Our leadership structure will look like this.  CLICK HERE!

If you scroll down to page two, which lists our leaders, you will see that we are still missing some leaders.  We are looking for several more leaders.  Veteran team members, please consider applying for one of these positions if you are interested.

• Culture Conductor:  Lead the Chairman's process, including the culture changing activities that make us strong Chairman candidates.  Lead the Culture team in producing a strong application and presentation for the Chairman's Award.  
• Safety Conductor:  Lead the team to be safe in all procedures.  Train in First Aid.  Keep our First Aid station in order, pack safety materials for the competitions, serve as safety captain at events, speaking to judges in our pit.  
• Strategy Conductor: Lead the strategy efforts for the team. Research scouting methods in the off-season, create our scouting system, train the scouters, lead strategy/scouting efforts at competitions,  contribute to the pick list brainstorming sessions, and possibly represent our team on the field during alliance selections.
• Apprentices(5):  Assist the House Leader with the management of your house. Keep track of the Plus/Delta charts for the house.  Seek Varsity status.  For any of you who are looking to get into a leadership role, this is a great first step.  

If you are interested in this position, please email Coach May by August 8.  Please include the position(s) you are interested in applying for in your email.  You will be contacted to set up an interview.  We plan to fill these positions quickly, so don't delay. :)

Our first Fundraiser will be on August 14, from 7 - 9 PM.  We will be having a Pamper Yourself (or someone you love) campaign to help earn money for your 2015 travels.  We will have Premiere Jewelry and Mary Kay Cosmetics representatives at the center to share their products with you.  Both consultants have agreed to donate 20% of their profit to the team.  So, grab your family and friends and head on over to the center for some fun.  Fliers are available here and may be shared. Start your travel fund off right, and plan to be here for this event.

Our important date document has been updated.  There is a change on a couple of dates due to Open Houses at the elementary schools.  Please review that document to keep on top of our season.

Important Dates

Important Dates

Week 1 of camp ends this week.  On Friday we will have a Lego pieces sorting party.  We will meet at the center at 7:00 PM and sort our LEGO kits and parts.  Following that, we will have a social event with some combination of SumoBots, Movies, Robot fun.   You must attend the sorting to be there for the social time.  Please respond on the Facebook page if you are attending.  

Week 2 of camp begins next week.  We are low on numbers for next week, so please help spread the word of our camp opportunity.  Information can be found HERE or on the bedfordrobotics.com website. 

FERMI SAFETY Day is Thursday, July 31.  At this point, we only have 3 team members, and 0 chaperones signed up.  Because it is a nuclear power, we must submit names before we attend.  If we do not get more help/participants, we will cancel this event.  DTE is a big sponsor of ours, and I would really like to do this for them.  It is a great chance for you to show our robot to some engineers, get a tour of Fermi, and have some robot fun with a couple of other local teams.   Please respond HERE if you can attend as a student or chaperone.  2014 graduates are welcome to attend with the team if you wish.  

I am working on a document with important upcoming dates.  It is a Google document and will be updated frequently, so please bookmark this and check it weekly.  You can find the document HERE.  

After summer camp, we will not be doing much until late August.  If you need to talk to any coaches about anything, please do so prior to August 1, as we will be unavailable most of August. 

Summer 2014

Have You Applied for our 2014-2015 Team?

We  have transitioned over to our 2014 Facebook page and 2014 email list.  If you have not applied, you may be left out of important communications.  Whether you are a student, a returning mentor, or a parent who would like to become a 2014 mentor, you need to fill out your application as soon as possible.  All applications can be found at www.bedfordrobotics.com.

Practice Schedule

 Our summer practice schedule can be found here. Please check back often, as new dates will be added.  Please double check meetings before heading to the center in case there has been any change.  Things change often in the summer.  

IRI - Indiana Robotics Invitational

ALL MONEY IS DUE Tuesday, July 8, by 8:00 PM. Outstanding money is past due, and needed immediately.  

The agenda can be found here.

Hotel and Ride list can be found here. 

Talent Show Information 

Scholarship Information - Deadline July 4

IRI Rule Changes

Silent Auction Information

Backpacks - Even if you are not going to IRI, we ask that you donate some school supplies/bookbags  that we can donate to this project.  We are required to donate one packed bookbag, but would like to donate more.  There is now a box by the admin desks to collect donations.

Be sure to bring money for food.  The hotel has a hot snack in the afternoon, and a hot breakfast.  You will be responsible for all other food.

The plan is to leave the center at 12:30 PM on Thursday afternoon.   Meet at the center by 12:15 to load.  We will head directly to the hotel, check in, unload, eat and then set up our pit.   Anticipated arrival home on Saturday will be between 10:30 and midnight.  

Practices for IRI are posted on the practice schedule.

Summer Camp

Please promote our summer camp program by posting on your wall about our summer camp.  Thanks to those that have already done so.  The link is:  www.bedfordrobotics.org/summer-camp.html

Please reserve these dates so that you can help with camp.  Camp training is necessary for group leaders.  Please be sure to attend training sessions if you would like to teach a group at camp.  We will need approximately 10 teachers each week.  Practice times are listed on the practice schedule.

School Board Recognition

I've just been notified that the school board would like to recognize the team for our 2014 accomplishments.
The board meeting is this Thursday, June 5th, at 7:00 PM in the cafeteria of Monroe Road Elementary School.  We will be taking our robot for a quick demo.

To prepare for the presentation, we will need to get our robot radio working wirelessly.  I am looking for a few people that can help load the equipment Thursday at 6:00.  Everyone else can meet at MRE at 6:45.  Please wear your BX red 2014 t-shirt, and your medals!

Week of May 26

• Thursdays:
• 5/29 No Practice
• 6/5 No Practice

 Special Meetings/Events: 

• Tuesday, May 27 - Information/Registration Night for 2014-2015 teams.  5:30 set up, 7:00 - 9:00 event.  We need BX students to run sales of t-shirts, explain programs, and demonstrate robots. 
• Tuesday, June 10 - JFLL, FLL, FTC Coach Meeting, 7:00 PM   - Any of you who are COACHING at team should plan on attending this meeting.  

Bedford Public Library Presentation

For those of you that still need a 2014 presentation, for those that want to get a 2015 presentation completed, of for those of you that would just like to participate, we will be doing a presentation at the library on July 8, 2014 at 6:00 PM for their summer reading program.     Please sign up with me if you wish to present.

Promotional materials will go out from the library with the following: We will meet at the center earlier that day to pack and prepare.  Time will be determined.  We will be taking bots from all levels.

More information to come.  

Bedford Library:

"F.I.R.S.T. Robotics -"Creating a World Where Science and Technology are Celebrated"  Presented by Bedford Public Schools Robotics Team Members &Coordinator. Come see and learn about  the cool and interesting things that are going on in our community  in the field of Robotics.

Updated May Dates

Here is what is happening this month:

• Thursdays:  7 - 9 PM - Team Meetings
• 5/22 Preparation for Information/Registration Night (8:00 - Meet with the Gandee family about making a robot mobility device for Braden) 
• 5/29 Prepare Center for summer
• 6/5 No Practice
• Special Meetings/Events: 
• Tuesday, May 20, 7:00 - 9:00 PM Coach/Mentor Training/Planning Session for students wanting to coach or mentor a 2014-2015 JFLL, FLL, or FTC team.
• Tuesday, May 27 - Information/Registration Night for 2014-2015 teams.  6:00 set up, 7:00 - 9:00 event.  We need BX students to run sales of t-shirts, explain programs, and demonstrate robots.