April 2026 Newsletter

Monthly Meeting highlights from March 16th.  The AHS Robotics FTC team is updating their demo bots for outreach events, and crafting a new set of ‘Beeping Eggs’ for a Lion’s Club Egg Hunt on April 4th (see the ARBC calendar on the home page for full information on Lions Club Egg Hunts on the 4th and 5th of April).  Four FLL Explore Fall teams celebrated the end of their season at the Anacortes Winter FLL Explore Festival during the ARBC Ice Cream Social on March 22 (final plans discussed at March 16th meeting).  ARBC will participate in the Anacortes Waterfront Festival (June 6&7).  There is interest in preparing a robotics float for the Anacortes July 4th Parade, but we need an adult leader to help organize this effort.  We have added a “Help Wanted” page to the ARBC website – https://anacortesrobotics.org/help-wanted/ – please check it out!  The fundraising restaurant takeover planned for March 30th had to be postponed (stay tuned for the new date!).  The next monthly meeting is on Monday 4/20 6pm at AHS – please join us!
 

Ice Cream Social and FLL Explore Festival.  The Anacortes FIRST Robotics Ice Cream Social for all ARBC-supported teams was this past Sunday at AHS, and incorporated an FLL Explore Festival as part of the program.  Four FLL Explore teams brought their season’s work to the event, and showed it off to everyone who attended, including teams of reviewers.  The FLL Explore teams received awards (trophies designed/produced by the FTC team students) recognizing their unique talents, as well as certificates for a free book from Pelican Bay Books and a free pizza from Anacortes Dominos.  The AHS Robotics Club brought their cool demo bots and recognized their mentors and fellow students for their contributions to the season.  Representatives from FLL Challenge teams spoke about their seasons.  Lots of students (and some parents!) built paper rockets that we launched at the end of the day.  Ice cream donated by Lopez Island Creamery was enjoyed by everyone.  We even got a group photo of all of the students who were able to make it to the event.  Thank you to everyone who volunteered to plan, execute, and participate so that this event could be successful.  It was organized by adult event leaders Sam Hollenbach and Elisabeth Jenkins, with the entire AHS Robotics Club FTC student team membership doing a HUGE job putting on the FLL Explore Festival and organizing/executing the program for both events.

Upcoming Team Events.  Anacortes FIRST Robotics will be at the Fidalgo Elementary STEAM Night on Friday, April 24th, and at the Anacortes Waterfront Festival on the weekend of June 6th and 7th.  The Waterfront Festival is a fun family event for everyone – check out the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce event page for complete details.  Remember!  All student team members should wear their teamwear any team event (parents, please help them remember).  For more details on these events and others, visit the ARBC Home Page and view and/or subscribe to our calendar.

Other events of interest.  Although PACCAR’s Open House on April 11 from 11am to 3pm is not an Anacortes FIRST Robotics event, it is interesting from a STEM standpoint.  The PACCAR Test Center opens their doors to the public to see their testing facilities and show off some of their “big rig” products.

On Outreach.  The purpose of our community outreach efforts is to maintain sustainability for robotics programs that by their nature see student team members move up and on every year.  We need existing team members to help recruit new team members.  In addition to STEM/science nights at the elementary schools, we use the Waterfront Festival, July 4th Parade, and Open Streets to get the word out.

Help Wanted.  If you see the value in having these robotics programs available in Anacortes, please consider helping us keep them going.  Even if you can only lend your support to a single event or activity, it is of tremendous benefit.  See the “Help Wanted” page on our website for more information.

Annual Member’s Meeting.  The Anacortes Robotics Booster Club’s Annual Member’s Meeting is on Monday, May 18th, 2026 – 6 pm at AHS.  Officers and Directors will be voted in/ratified, plans will be made to close out the fiscal year on June 30th and start the new fiscal year on July 1st.  Planning for the new robotics season will get kicked off, etc.

The Last Word.  If anyone wants clarification of any newsletter item or has a correction or suggestion, contact me.  I’ll make editorial corrections to the online version of the newsletter if needed.