Greetings 2021-2022 FIRST Tech Challenge Teams!
It is hard to believe over a month has passed since our MA State Championship took place on March 5th, the capstone celebration of the 2021-2022 FTC FREIGHT FRENZY season.
It was a great event (many thanks to Natick High School for providing their school to us) and we hope teams that did not attend know they were with us in spirit and were able to view the exciting competition on-line. We will be posting photos and a highlight reel of the video we received from Pegasus Natick, to whom we again extend our thanks for streaming the event, to our website shortly.
We want to sincerely Congratulate our MA FTC Championship Winning Alliance Captain, Team 18754, GNCE, from Weston and our MA FTC State Championship Inspire Award Winner, Team 18438, Wolfpack Machina from The Waring School in Beverly. We also want to extend our Congratulations to Team 8644, The Brainstormers from Lexington, who qualified at the Arkansas FTC State Championship to attend the FIRST Championship.
We are very excited and proud that all three teams will be representing MA next week in Houston and we wish each the very best of luck!
Want to watch FIRST Championship FTC Play? Teams can download the Championship App at https://guidebook.com/g/#/
As some of you know, we took a bit of time off after states and then had a few ‘sick days out’ the following weeks, hence the delay in this communication (we also we figured you needed a bit of a break too) but we are now back in full swing and have the following updates to share.
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June 11th, NE FIRST Inaugural FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge Invitational at WPI
We are excited to announce that we have been collaborating with NE FIRST to put on an inaugural NE FIRST, FIRST Lego League and FIRST Tech Challenge Invitational taking place on June 11th at Worcester Polytechnic University.
This fun-filled robot competition will be attended by FIRST LEGO League teams and 30 (total) FIRST Tech Challenge teams from 5 New England States: CT, MA, NH, RI, VT.
As the event is still in its planning stages, we do not have additional details at this time, but will communicate them as soon as they are available from our friends at NE FIRST – stay tuned!
Boston Tech Initiative Off-Season Event – Date TBD – Please respond to Poll
As shared with you at the competition events, our plan is to hold an Off-Season event, and we have been in discussions and planning for what this will look like. After reviewing our BTI team member’s calendars and commitments post states, we have determined the optimal time frame to do so will be in mid-August or early-mid September.
We are sorry it did not work out to do an event this spring or early summer, but in addition to working around our commitments, we want to take the time to properly plan for our first ever BTI Off-season event. We want to ensure it is a fun and engaging event that can host as many of our 2021-2022 teams as possible. Additionally, we plan to make this a recurring annual event, and we can look to adjust the time-frame (e.g., spring or early summer) as we move forward.
This said, we would like to get feedback from you and your team as to what dates might work best.*
Please go to this link https://forms.gle/
We would like to have responses by end of the month, Friday, April 29th, and will share the poll results once collated.
*Please note that although the poll may indicate a majority of teams prefer a particular date, other factors in finalizing the date will need to be considered e.g., venue availability, volunteer availability, etc.
BTI Internships
We are working to finalize details on the number of internships and the associated ‘Internship Job Descriptions’ by the end of the month and will share via email once ready.
New! Team Run Events Page on BTI website
We have created a dedicated BTI ‘Team Run Events’ web page available at https://
Two key things to keep in mind:
- Some team-run events have ‘Deadline Response by Dates‘ in advance of the actual event date. We have noted these in RED on the calendar/event description page while the Event Date itself is in ORANGE.
- Some events such as summer camps will be posted on their Start Date and may not have associated ‘Deadline Response by Dates‘ that appear prior to the event date posting. As some of these events may have limited capacity or other important information you should know well in advance of the actual event, we urge teams to take a look out several months on the Calendar to be sure they are not missing any opportunities.
How to Request a Team Run Event Posting: Please email me at this address with your requests. We may develop a form in the future, but for now an email is the best way to get your event posted. Please be sure to include all pertinent information such as response or registration deadline/event dates, event description, contact information etc.
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Finally, we want to extend a SINCERE THANK YOU to each of you and your team members for making the FREIGHT FRENZY season truly an amazing experience, not only for our BTI team and planning committee, but for your fellow teams and the committed volunteers that made the season possible. We are especially grateful for the flexibility and understanding you afforded us being new this year and your patience and support as we worked through the COVID impacts to the events.
We have learned a lot from this season and are very much looking forward to bringing what we know – along with some new ideas – to the 2022-2023 season.
Have a great Patriot’s Day long weekend and as always please let me know if you have any questions!
Warmly,
Deb and Wayne
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