Yes, please tell us more about underwater robotics!  Sounds like
something we'd love to come and see.
Sonya in Hbg



On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 3:27 PM, Gail Drake <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> My personal opinion on the subject:
>
> Many of us that support the FLL teams started in the FRC arena.  I
> personally support several FLL teams and several FTC teams, as well as
> manage and mentor a FRC team.  The FRC Season starts the first Saturday in
> January and has a 6 week build. We literally work 6 -7 days a week during
> this season and have no band-width for any other projects (FLL/FTC).  The
> FTC Season starts the 2nd/3rd week of September and starts its state
> competitions in early December.
>
> Having FLL in the fall allows many people to be involved in FLL along with
> FRC or FTC.  I personally believe it would hurt the BIG picture if we could
> not be involved. (When I state 'we', for our team, I have 30 high school
> students that mentor elementary kids, and that would not happen).
>
> I think there is a bigger picture than FLL stand alone.  I for one, and
> pleased that we have a cycle that includes many level of robotics.
>
> If you really want some fun; we do underwater robotics in April :)
>
> Gail Drake
> Battlefield High School
> Information Technology and Programming Faculty
> Robotics Coach, FRC Team 1885, FTC, SEAPerch
> WebMaster
>
> (571) 261-4726
> [log in to unmask]
>
> SEAPerchPWCS.org
> BattlefieldIT.org
> BattlefieldRobotics.org
>
> >>> Stuart & Lori Roll <[log in to unmask]> 11/21/2008 3:14 PM >>>
> Michael -
>
> I agree.  In our area, the challenge is generally released the first week
> of
> school each year when too many other flyers are being sent home.  This past
> year, I finally got the reigns of our Elementary School program and did
> spring registration for a change.  The odd thing is I don't know if it
> gained us much extra time, if any.  It's hard for some people to commit to
> something several months in advance when they don't have a handle on how
> bad
> sports practices and such will be.  It's virtually impossible to get kids
> together over the summer as their vacations and camps all overlap.  Also,
> everyone is very distracted in the first week or two of school.
>
> Our Middle School program has it harder, though.  Along with all the
> aforementioned challenges, the rising 6th graders are coming from several
> feeder schools, only one of which even has an FLL program.  The first
> quarter of 6th grade is pretty challenging for most kids and they are
> worried about overcommiting.  We still somehow ended up with a bumper crop
> of 6th grade recruits this year.
>
> So it seems no matter how hard I try, we still end up with a 6-8 week FLL
> season.  Other school systems (VA and elsewhere) that start in late August
> or use a year-round schedule have a small advantage on us, I would think.
>
> But to balance that out, the 80-20 rule applies in FLL as it does in life
> in
> general - 80% of the work gets done in the last 20% of the time.  I'd bet
> that most teams meander through the first couple of weeks and then knuckle
> down at the end so an extra week or two up front wouldn't make that much
> difference. We have been living (and in some cases thriving) with this
> issue
> for years, so maybe it isn't such a big hairy deal.
>
> Unfortunately, moving the fall tournaments a couple of weeks later would
> force them to post-Thanksgiving and you'd have to move states into January.
> I'm not saying that's a bad thing, mind you, just different.
>
> The schedule may have very limited flexibility.  The challenge has to be
> released all at once worldwide and I have no clue how schools work in the
> other countries.  My best guess is that our regional tournament dates were
> simply picked as the latest dates that didn't hit Thanksgiving.
>
> Stuart
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Blanpied" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 11:34 AM
> Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] why november and december for tournaments
>
>
> > Lisa,
> >
> > I'll be curious too. I assume that FLL regionals and state tournaments
> are
> > in the fall to allow the international tournament to fall within the same
> > school year, or to not conflict with Odyssey of the Mind and other such
> > things in the spring, but that's just a guess.
> >
> > The timing does create a challenge for school teams. My first two years I
> > coached an elementary school team. The school would send announcements
> > about FLL in the introductory package, which families would receive
> around
> > Labor Day. By the time forms were returned, teams formed, and a first
> > meeting scheduled, we were into late September with only about 6-7 weeks
> > left. I pleaded for the school to solicit interest and form teams in the
> > spring, so that we could meet a bit over the summer to get to know each
> > other and begin work on background skills (robot building, programming)
> > and begin to explore the theme topic in a general way, but no dice.
> >
> > Perhaps a compromise would be to move the fall tournaments a couple of
> > weeks later, and shift States to after the holiday, but who knows.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >>Hello,
> >>
> >>      I have a question about the timing of our tournaments.  Why do we
> >> have our tournaments during the busiest time of the year November and
> >> December?  There must be a reason and I just don't know.   It would seem
> >> to make more sense to have them later after we have had time to get
> >> situated in the school year and not during the holiday season.  I was
> >> thinking March and April.
> >>
> >>Just Wondering,
> >>Fuqua Bot Boys
> >>Formerly X-treme Lego Bots
> >>Formerly Fuqua 4-H Robotics
> >>
> >>Lisa
> >>
> >>______________________________________________________________
> >>To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit
> >>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or
> leave
> >>the list".
> >>
> >>If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL
> >>administrative announcements will be distributed - visit
> >>https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join
> or
> >>leave the list".
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit
> > https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or
> leave
> > the list".
> >
> > If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL
> > administrative announcements will be distributed - visit
> > https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join
> or
> > leave the list".
> >
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit
> https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave
> the list".
>
> If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL
> administrative announcements will be distributed - visit
> https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join or
> leave the list".
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit
> https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave
> the list".
>
> If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL
> administrative announcements will be distributed - visit
> https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join or
> leave the list".
>

______________________________________________________________
To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".

If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL administrative announcements will be distributed - visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".