September 19, 2022 Newsletter

Special Announcement

In the spring of 2023, Mariucci Arena will begin a construction project on their rink. As a result, we are not able to hold our Minnesota North Star Regional at that location for the 2023 season. After an extensive search to find an alternative location that will fit our event and date requirements, the location for our event this season will be the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, WI. This means there will be two FIRST Robotics Competition Regional Events in La Crosse, WI in 2023. Minnesota North Star @ La Crosse is a temporary location only. We will work closely with teams and volunteers to ensure each is placed appropriately for our events. These are the 2023 events:

• Lake Superior and Northern Lights Regionals in Duluth, MN, March 1-4, 2023
• Great Northern Regional in Grand Forks, ND, March 8-11, 2023
• North Star @ La Crosse in La Crosse, WI, March 23-26, 2023 (note: Thursday to Sunday event)
• 10,000 Lakes presented by Medtronic in Minneapolis, MN, March 29 – April 1, 2023

Additional important details:

• 10,000 Lakes presented by Medtronic is a wait list only event. Spots need to be held for teams who only compete at this event.
• If you can ONLY attend 10,000 Lakes, please list this as your preferred event and DO NOT list a 2nd preference. Also, email Nicole or Ken to express your need.
• When first preference ends on September 29, teams on the wait list for 10,000 Lakes will be processed in time for the 2nd preference to start on October 6.
• The wait list at all of our events is slightly larger than normal in case we need to move teams or volunteers between events.

Important Announcements

• Have you registered your team yet? Event preference begins September 22, so get your team registered now.
• Team Grants are available NOW! Remember to ask your mentors, as some businesses only allow grant requests from employees. Also, if your community has a John Deere dealer, you may be available for team grants from John Deere.
• Minne Mini-Regional Robotics Tournament: Registration is now open for the 2022 Minne Mini-Regional Robotics Tournament at Prior Lake High School on Saturday, November 19, 2022.  The registration form can be accessed now. The events page of the KING TeC website will be updated soon to share information about the 2022 MMR event.  At that time, the MMR 2022 registration link will be available on the website also.  Until then, please use the direct link provided above.
• Jumpstart Robotics Training is back for our 8th season and registration is open NOW. We are also looking for teams to give presentations at any one of these events.  We are not looking for any subject in particular, but want to make certain all teams have an opportunity to present their ‘best practices’.  If your team is interested in sharing knowledge, experiences, or just leading a discussion about a topic, please email Jumpstart.
  • October 1 – Jumpstart for Mentors @ Delta ModTech (REGISTER NOW)
  • October 15 – Minnesota Robotics Invitational @ Roseville Area High School
  • November 12 – Jumpstart Medtronic @ Medtronic
  • November 19 – Minne Mini Regional @ Prior Lake High School
  • December 3 – Jumpstart Training Event @ Becker High School
• MN State High School League State Tournament Committee: FIRST in Upper Midwest is seeking 1-2 additional committee members to participate in the Minnesota State Tournament Committee. This committee is responsible for planning and executing the Minnesota State Robotics Championship tournament, including recommending changes to the qualification process and tournament rules, working with our venue and sponsors to execute the event, recruiting volunteers, and more. This is a great opportunity to get involved with one of our most exciting events of the year. We are looking for a diverse set of committee members from different corners of Minnesota with backgrounds in FRC to ensure that we build the best possible state championship.
• Ann Bancroft Foundation Grants for Girls: Do you have new or returning girls on your team who struggle to pay fees associated with robotics (team fees, travel fees, etc.)? Encourage them to apply for an Ann Bancroft Foundation grant. Note that this is a one-time grant, but even with that limitation, it can be a great way to support and retain girls on your team. Mentors – you will have to help your girls (including cisgender, transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary people) apply, so you can help them remember to include all annual expenses up to $500. Please limit this opportunity to girls with financial need.
• The Minnesota Robotics Coaches Association is here for all Coaches and Mentors of Minnesota teams!  Being a part of MRCA provides you as a Coach/Mentor many benefits including but not limited to $2,000,000 liability insurance while coaching and in the classroom, membership card that provides you admission to many high school and college events in MN, Your team becomes eligible to earn academic team and individual honors, Plus more! To apply and/or renew your memberships, the cost is $45 for a Fully year’s coverage. When registering if you are the Primary Contact for the team registered in FIRST Inspires, sign up as Head Coach. If you are not listed as primary contacts for the team, please sign up as Assistant Coach.
• Elevate Your Game Training presented by 2022 FRC World Champion Team 1619 – Up-A-Creek Robotics, and sponsored by Toro Robotics will cover a wide variety of topics designed to help your team improve its on-field performance in FIRST Robotics Competition events. All FRC teams, from Rookies to Super-Veterans, will find something of value during the course of the day. This event is FREE OF CHARGE! Lunch and snacks will be provided. Saturday, November 5th from 9am-5pm. RSVP to Mike Ott to save your spot at training.

Quick Bites of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
FIRST has collaborated with the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) to develop training for coaches, mentors, volunteers, partners and other key stakeholders who work directly with students and are committed to creating a sense of belonging for students on teams. Through engaging and reflective activities on our interactions with students, these modules will equip us with specific strategies to support community outreach, student participation, motivation, engagement and success.

We have prepared a complimentary, three-part training module course for the FIRST community. This course is free and available to anyone. The three interactive course modules each range in 20 – 40 minutes. Complete the modules individually or all at once. We recommend completing each module in one sitting as the certificates generate based on completion of each module.

Go to Inspiring Success Training

Once you’ve completed the training modules we encourage you to download the FIRST Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Training badge. When file opens, right click and “save image as” to download.

Finding mentors can be a struggle. Check out the FIRST Mentor Network.  From your team’s dashboard, set up a profile, set your preferences, and see if you can find a match from the more than 1,000 volunteers looking to connect. Teams can also indicate whether the mentor is needed to meet in-person or whether remote mentoring is acceptable.

Do you have questions for fellow mentors? Ask here and see the responses in a future newsletter.

• Question from a new mentor: What do you take into consideration when choosing which regional event to attend?