Middleton Parents, Students, and Sponsors:
The next 4 weeks are going to be very busy for the Middleton Robotics Club. We are going to be attending our first tournaments, hosting a tournament, holding a car wash, and participating in many other activities. Please make sure you take the time to read this newsletter very carefully. There is lots of information about activities we will need supported by the students and parents.
The following are the topics that will be cover in this email:
1. Hillsborough High School Tournament next Saturday (November 12, 2011)
2. Boy Scouts Community Outreach Opportunity (November 10, 2011)
3. Team T-Shirts Arrived
4. Car Wash (November 20, 2011)
5. Robotics Christmas Drive — Holiday Treasure for Teens
6. Volunteers Still Needed for December 3rd FTC Tournament at Middleton
7. Greyhound Challenge in Longwood, FL (November 19, 2011)
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1. Hillsborough High School Tournament next Saturday (November 12, 2011) – It is hard to believe that we will be attending our first FTC tournament next weekend. Team 1369 Minotaur and Team 4997 Masquerade will be attending the Hillsborough High School State Qualifier tournament. It is important that students on each of these teams is at Hillsborough High School no later than 7:15am. It will be a full day and the tournament will not ending until about 6pm. Given the relatively small number of teams attending this tournament, we might end a little early. We will also need a small group of students to take the robots to Middleton on Friday night to get the robots inspected. Please keep in mind that there is no school on Friday.
We will be ordering pizza for the students that will be attending the tournaments. To ensure that we get enough pizza, please let me know if you will be attending the tournament no later than the Wednesday robotics meeting.
This is our first opportunity to get our teams qualified for the state championship. We have two good robots and we submitted our judging videos last week. I am confident that our teams will do very well at this tournament. It is likely that the team captains will be staying after school most days this week to finalize the robots. Our main focus this week will be finalizing the autonomous programs, practice driving, and getting the robots competition ready (mounting numbers, connecting the Samantha module, and organizing the wiring).
It is also important that 1369 and 4997 starts thinking about the team organization at the tournament. For example, each team needs to identify scouts, pit crew, drivers, judge seekers, and coaches.
Please remember to wear your team T-shirt and you will need to complete the attached consent form. Please make sure you complete the attached consent form and bring it to the tournament on Saturday.
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2. Boy Scouts Community Outreach Opportunity (November 10, 2011) – Thursday evening at 7pm we have an opportunity to show our robots and talk about FIRST with the Boy Scouts. The meeting will be start at 7pm but I would like anyone that can attend to show up about 15-20 minutes before 7pm. Please wear your robotics team t-shirt. The location of the event is as follows:
a. Church of Jesus Christ of LDS — 2120 West Fletcher Avenue, Tampa (813) 968-4757
I need to get a head count of the number of students that will be able to attend. Please respond to this email and let me know if you will be able to attend.
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3. Team T-shirts Arrived – All of the team T-shirts including shirts for the FRC team arrived last Friday. We passed out shirts to students that were still at the Friday meeting at about 5:15pm. We will have the T-shirts at school during the Wednesday meeting. I will likely not be able to get to the meeting until after 4pm. Please make sure you see me on Wednesday to get your T-shirt.
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4. Car Wash (November 20, 2011) – An FRC fund raising car wash has been scheduled for November 20, 2011 at the Burger King in the Target parking lot on Dale Mabry just north of Bearss avenue. We will need at least 25 students to support the car wash. We will start at 9am and end around 4pm. Last year we were able to make more than $700 at a car wash and we need everyone’s support. We will need buckets, hoses, rages, and soap. Please respond to this email and let me know if you will be able to attend and what you can bring. Please show your support for the Middleton Robotics Club and help wash cars as well as encourage your friends to get their car washed.
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5. Robotics Christmas Drive — Holiday Treasure for Teens – The second attachment to this email is about our Christmas toy drive. Last year we did a Marine Toys for Tots drive as our community outreach event. One of the things FIRST stresses when building a robotics team is to make sure the kids learn about more than just robots. Teams are encouraged to get involved with their local communities and find ways to help. Toni Lupo has worked with The Spring to help us organize a Christmas drive for teenagers. We will be collecting money, gift cards, or toys targeted at teens between the ages of 13-17. We need all contributions returned by December 12, 2011 so that we can deliver them to The Spring. Please read the attached flyer for more details. Please pass around to co-works and neighbors to help us support this fabulous event.
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6. Volunteers Still Needed for December 3rd FTC Tournament at Middleton – I will start by thanking the many students and parents that have already responded to my call for volunteer help at the Middleton Madness FTC Tournament on December 2nd and 3rd. However, I still need some additional help. I still need about 6-7 adult volunteers. Next weekend I am going to finalize my volunteer list and need your help. Please let me know if you are able to help support our tournament.
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7. Greyhound Challenge in Longwood, FL (November 19, 2011) – We will also be sending two teams (Minotaur 1369 an Masquerade 4997) to the FTC tournament on November 19, 2011. The tournament will be held at Milwee Middle School, 1342 Ronald Reagan Blvd South, Longwood, FL. This will be a very long day because I will also need students to arrive in Longwood (near Orlando) by 7:15am. I will also be ordering a pizza lunch for the students. Therefore, it is important that we get an accurate head count. I will send out another reminder next week requesting who will be attending this tournament.
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