angie fontanilla
Oak Hill E.S. PTA
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE FOR 2009 VA/DC FLL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT AT JMU:
90 FLL teams from Virginia and DC received invitations for participate in the
State Championship.
NOTE: Although it would be fun to attend, FLL teams may
choose not to participate in any of the Friday events. However, we
recommend that ALL FLL TEAM MEMBERS MUST be at JMU's Memorial Hall by 8:45 am
on Saturday, December 5. Teams
should prepare to assemble before 9:00 am for the Opening
Ceremony (starts at 9:15 am). There may be a Coaches'
Meeting before the start of Saturday's event (time and place TBD).
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4th: Pre-Tournament Events
5:00 pm -- "Swap Meet" at Harrisonburg
Children's Museum. Teams will have the opportunity to
add to their inventory of LEGO pieces from old mission pieces. These
pieces can be used to build attachments for future challenges.
After "Swap Meet" (time and place TBD) -- Parade at
Harrisonburg (VA/DC FLL teams as VIP Guests)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5th: Project Presentation and Teamwork Judging
Day
Location: Memorial Hall, 395 S.
High St., Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Things to Bring: Presentation props, research support
documents, etc.
8:00 am -- Team Registration
9:15 am -- Opening Ceremony
10:00 am -- Judging and Activities will start
12:00 pm to 1:30 pm -- Lunch time (depending on team's judging schedule)
Teams can leave for the day once they are done with their judging sessions.
What can student team members do in-between judging sessions on
Saturday, 12/5? There will be pre-planned activities for
students to attend in between judging sessions. These pre-planned
activites are only for team members of participating FLL teams (not their
siblings & friends). Students have to pre-register for these
activities. Some of these activities will take place at other locations
across the campus. Event organizers will
have rosters for these planned activities and only registered students will
be able to get in -- parents/coaches will have to wait in the halls.
ROTC students will escort groups on buses to the activities and back to
Memorial Hall. If parents want to go elsewhere, event organizers will
bring all the kids back to Memorial Hall to meet up with teams/parents for
lunch or at the end of the event day. More details about the
pre-planned activities for FLL students will be available after November 16.
What can parents and siblings do on Saturday, 12/5, while waiting for
their FLL child? There won't be a pit area on Saturday because
there are no robot competitions that day.
There is a coffee shop that will be open. There will also be a movie
(Wall-E) playing in the auditorium for families and FLL students to watch (in
between judging sessions, of course). Only the coaches are allowed in
the judging rooms with the kids. Parents and siblings cannot
participate in the pre-planned activities. There are other activities
downtown and in the local area for parents and siblings to enjoy--check out
the VA/DC FLL website at http://www.vadcfll.org/championship/parents.html and http://www.harrisonburgtourism.com/calendarDisplay.php
for ideas. Buses to and from downtown Harrisonburg will be provided.
What about lunch on Saturday, 12/5? During the 8:00 am
registration time period, JMU will also be selling meal tickets.
They'll accept cash or credit card for payment--lunch cost: $8.00 per meal
ticket. This is for an "All-U-Can-Eat" lunch meal at JMU's
Dining Hall. The event organizer highly
recommends buying the lunch tickets ahead of time since the lines to pay during lunch can get very long
(remember...there are 90 teams competing) and a bunch of college students. If you buy
your meal ticket ahead of time, then you can start getting in line for food
right away. If not, the cost of the meal will still be the same...but
you may have to stand in line longer to pay for the food.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6th: Robot Performance and Robot Design Judging Day
Location: Harrisonburg High School,
1001 Garbers Church Rd, Harrionsburg, VA 22801
Things to Bring: Your robot, laptop, backup of robot
programs, robot design documents
8:30 am -- FLL teams Check-in
9:00 am -- Brief Opening Ceremony
9:30 am -- Robot runs and judging starts.
Starting sometime between 3:30 pm to 4:00pm -- Awards Ceremony (about 1 hour
long)
Parking is available on both sides of the high school building. The
high school's Key Club will manage the food concession stands--proceeds will
go to charity. Team will have a "pit area"--this is also a
place where families can meet the team.