Valley of Sun Qualifier + Resources for scholarships, camps, Championship Conferences

Congrats to the teams that qualified for the AZ Championship last weekend at Dine' College & Red Rock!! 

Only two qualifiers left...will your team be next?

• 11794 Sunrise Koolbotics
• 15477 Robo-Assemblers
• 16817 Rocksisaan Tech
• 17460 Technical Terrors
• 18312 Da Geese of Freedom
• 18625 Trivium Knightmares
• 23948 T.O.N.K.I.S

Is your team done competing for the season? Volunteer for the AZ Championship February 16 & 17! We need a lot more judges and it's preferred that we have judges without an affiliation to the teams competing. What a great way to see the FTC program behind the scenes and have a blast! Sign up via your FIRST Dashboard!

Dr. Bart Kamen Memorial FIRST^® Scholarship - Deadline February 1

Time is running out! If you're passionate about medicine or biomedical engineering, don't miss your chance to secure one of four $10,000 renewable scholarships.

Act fast – the deadline is February 1! Learn more and apply now for this incredible opportunity. This opportunity is available to students worldwide that are attending college or university in the United States. 

FIRST Camp Guides
Is your team interested in hosting a fundraiser or outreach event this spring or summer? Would you like to use FIRST^® LEGO^® League or FIRST^® Tech Challenge season materials to continue impacting younger generations? 

Introduce your students to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and life changing FIRST programs by hosting a FIRST Camp. Using the FIRST Camp resources as your guide, get ready for an unforgettable STEM adventure filled with hands-on learning and teamwork. Your campers will participate in age-appropriate robotics and coding activities that will ignite their curiosity throughout the week-long camp experience.

To run your camp, you’ll need access to FIRST LEGO League division or FIRST Tech Challenge materials. You can register for a FIRST Class Pack or utilize prior-season materials if you’ve recently participated in FIRST. Get your free camp guides here.

FIRST Championship Conferences – Request for Proposals
FIRST is accepting proposals for the 2024 FIRST Championship Conferences that will be running Wednesday-Friday at the 2024 FIRST Championship presented by BAE Systems. Students, mentors, educators, coaches, volunteers, staff, and sponsors are welcome to submit a proposal before our February 9 deadline. Presenters will be notified in mid-March if they have been selected.   

If you have questions, please contact championshipconferences@firstinspires.org.

GOOD LUCK TO THE TEAMS COMPETING AT THE VALLEY OF THE SUN QUALIFIER TOMORROW! 

Red Rock & Dine' College Qualifier Live Streams

 

Congrats to the teams that qualified for the AZ Championship at the Palo Verde Qualifier! Which teams will be next at the Red Rock & Dine' College Qualifiers...? 

• 6174 Automatons
• 18420 Metal Masters
• 5661 Wolves 1
• 14855 Shamrocks

Is your team done competing for the season? Consider volunteering for one of our remaining qualifiers or the AZ Championship! We need many more judges and referees for the AZ Championship, and we prefer volunteers without affiliations to teams that are competing. Sign up via your FIRST Dashboard!

Dine' College - Tsalie Qualifier Live Stream

Red Rock Microchip Qualifier

Dean's List Deadline & Palo Verde Live Stream

HAPPY NEW YEAR FTC TEAMS!!!

Dean's List - Interview Event

The deadline to submit is a week from today - Monday January 15!

The FIRST Dean's List honors student leaders on each team who exemplify the values of FIRST, have made a positive impact on their team and in the community, and show technical expertise. Each team many nominate up to two 10th or 11th grade students. Nominees become Dean's List Semifinalists. A panel of judges will interview each nominee and select our Finalists to be considered at World Championship. Our AZ Finalists will be announced at the AZ Championship.

This year, all Dean's List interviews will take place remotely via the FTC Scoring system on February 6, 7 and 8, 2024 in the afternoon/evening. Dean's List nominations are due by January 15, 2024 9:59 PM AZ time to be considered. No late nominations will be accepted.  For more information on the Dean's List criteria and how to nominate your sophomore and junior leaders for the FIRST Dean's List, click here. 

Gracious Professionalism - Always!

Just a reminder as the qualifier season continues to work with your teams on GP behavior both on and off the playing field. FIRST is defined by Gracious Professionalism and our Code of Conduct and Core Values. It's expected that all team members, coaches, mentors, volunteers, and spectators abide by this at all times. Here are some examples of what this looks like at a tournament: 

• Discovery: We explore new skills and ideas.
• DO: Ask other teams about their robot, outreach, team structure
• DO: Collaborate with other teams.
• DO: Share what your robot does with scouting teams.
• DON'T: Tell another team that their robot is no good or that it should perform at less than its best.
• Innovation: We use creativity and persistence to solve problems.
• DO: Ask other teams for help, and lend help to teams in need.
• DON'T: Give up when something goes wrong, or have a bad attitude when your robot isn't working well.
• Impact:  We apply what we learn to improve our world.
• DO: Take what you learn in FIRST to make your school, community, and team better.
• DON'T: Think that these core values are only for robotics - use them everywhere and see how your relationships with teachers, friends, and family improve!
• Inclusion: We respect each other and embrace our differences.
• DO: Welcome everyone!!! All races, colors, ages, abilities, backgrounds, religions, genders have a safe place to belong in FIRST! Be kind to all.
• DON'T: Sell any team or anyone short just because they are different than you are. 
• Teamwork: We are stronger when we work together.
• DO: Collaborate with your alliance partners to create the best strategy that highlights the strength both robots. 
• DON'T: Ask another team to perform less than their best. 
• Fun: We enjoy and celebrate what we do!
• DO: DANCE! CHEER! CELBRATE!
• DON'T: Think this is all about winning. Whether you finish first or last, celebrate what your team has learned, and leave with a smile and your head held high. 

Congrats to the teams moving on to the AZ Championship!

Congratulations to the teams that qualified for the AZFTC Championship at the December 16 Diamondback Qualifier! For full event results, visit the official FTC Event Results Page for a full list of match results, rankings, and award winners. 

• 15135 Venom
• 14584 Pioneer 327
• 15461 Nutz and Bolts
• 14624 Catastrophic Byte

Artemis ROADS II NASA National Student Challenge is Open!  Deadline to register is January 17th, 2024

Only a few days left to register!  Lead a student team to design their own NASA Mission! Sign up for NASA's National Student Challenge program & get access to hands-on activities like rocket building, robot programming, and cultivating moon plants! Qualified teams receive challenge supplies. Mission Objectives are scaffolded for grades 3-12.  Educators can also access the Culturally Responsive ROADS Robotics Curriculum.  It is usable in both formal and informal education and improves equity and access to robotics, computer science, and NASA science while learning academic standards. It was designed using mostly Diné epistemologies (ways of knowing and being) as a baseline but written to be responsive for all Indigenous cultures.

GOOD LUCK TO THE TEAMS COMPETING AT THIS WEEKEND'S PALO VERDE QUALIFIER IN GOODYEAR! 

You can watch the live stream here.