Hi Stephanie,

I'm not sure about Loudoun County, but I have not heard about Fairfax County
having Lego Mindstorms kits available to rent or to borrow.  I do know some
middle schools in Fairfax County (with a GT center) that have the funding to
purchase the Mindstorms kits for their Tech classes, but they don't loan
them out.

My suggestion is to work with your school PTA/PTO on this.  This was how our
elementary school started their Robotics program 3 years ago.  The PTO (not
sure about PTA rules) funded the purchase of 11 Mindstorms Kits ($280 ea)
and the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Engineering I course ($270).  The PTO
offered 3 before/after school robotics classes with 16 students for each
class (2 students per kit, with 3 kits to be used by 3 parent-volunteer
teachers).  The PTO charged $90 per student for taking the Robotics
Engineering I class.  The 3 classes were fully booked, and the PTO recovered
all the cost in the first year.  (What the kids did during their 2nd year is
another success story to be shared later...)

This is the quickest way for you to get the Mindstorms Kits into your school
and to avoid all the bureaucracy with the county.

Regards,
Curt Tran
2007, Coach Team #3563, Rabid Llama Lords
2008, Coach Team #324, Scitobor

-----Original Message-----
From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stephanie Gleason
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 12:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VADCFLL-L] Recommendations for Using County Mindstorm Kits Needed

Does anyone have experience working with Loudoun or Fairfax county to rent 
or borrow the county Lego Mindstorms kits?
 
We would like to offer a Lego Mindstorms afterschool program this fall at 
Horizon Elementary. For the first time, have a FLL team at the school and 
more people want to learn and join next year. I'd like to offer an 
afterschool program over 6 weeks (one afternoon a week) for grades 3-5. We 
have an instructor, but we need kits.
 
My kids took the Lego Robotics camp through Loudoun Parks and Recreation 
this summer. The teachers were very supportive of the idea and seemed to 
think we could borrow or rent the kits from the county. Since then I have 
left multiple email and voicemail messages with Aaron Hopper and Jessica 
Hale at Loudoun P&R and have received no responses. 
 
Can anyone refer me to someone else or suggest another avenue I can try?
 
Thanks,
Stephanie Gleason
571-434-9530

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