Greetings and salutations! Summer is here, and the pace of robotics booster activities has slowed down but not stopped. Less than two months from now school will start up (Thursday September 3, 2026) and so will robotics teams. If you or your student is interested in beginning or continuing to participate, read this newsletter to know what is happening and when. The ARBC website has a calendar you can refer to as well. For more information on each of these subjects, read the body of this message:
- Pre-registration is open for the coming season’s FLL Explore (grades 2-4), FLL Challenge (grades 4-8), and FIRST Tech Challenge (grades 8-12) team formation on the ARBC website
- Events coming soon: ARBC Fundraising at select Port of Anacortes Summer Concerts, Ready to Learn Fair, Coach/Mentor Training, and Open Streets
- Coach/Mentor Training: The best way to ensure a robotics experience for your student is to lead or contribute to a team, come learn how
- Monthly meeting highlights from June 15
Pre-registration for the coming season – 2026-2026 FIRST Canopy (“Engineer a Thriving Planet”)
Nothing on Earth thrives alone. Every gene, species, and ecosystem is part of a rich web of biological diversity that powers clean air, fresh water, and food.With STEM as their tool and nature as inspiration, today’s boldest innovators are finding new ways to strengthen the connections that protect our shared home.Building. Problem solving. Growing stronger through teamwork.Welcome to our 2026-2027 biodiversity-themed robotics season, FIRST® CANOPY™.
ARBC works with interested parents to (re)-form robotics teams for students each season. Please tell us about you/your student’s interest in a program using the pre-registration forms available through our website. Pre-registration does not guarantee participation on a team, but is necessary to be part of team formation. The number of students who can participate is determined by the amount of adult support our community can muster, so please consider throwing your hat in the ring as a team coach/mentor. Priority in team formation is given to students of coaches/mentors, and order of pre-registration. Last year we could not form enough teams for all of the students interested in the FLL Explore program – can you help make sure that doesn’t happen again?
Events Coming Soon
- ARBC is fundraising at select Port of Anacortes Summer Concerts in July/August at Seafarer’s Park. If you see our red canopy/blue banner at a concert, stop by, say hi!, and buy a soda, snack, chocolate chip cookies, or a brownie. All proceeds support ARBC’s robotics activities, and donations are welcome, too. Cash only.
- ARBC will be present at the Anacortes Schools Foundation’s Ready To Learn Fair on August 15th at AHS. If you are at the Fair and want to know more about participating in robotics, stop by our table with your questions. Our scholarship program covers expenses for eligible students, we want everyone who wants to participate to do so.
- New and returning coach/mentor training for all program levels is on August 15th at AHS from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm. If you are even thinking about thinking about getting involved as a coach or mentor so that we can offer a robotics opportunity to as many students as possible, including yours, please come to this training.
- Open Streets returns for the 13th! year on Sunday August 30th (according to the sponsors). ARBC plans to be out at this fun and friendly event with robot demos and (of course) free ice cream! Enjoy car free open streets in downtown Anacortes, usually from 11 am to 3 pm. A last hurrah before school starts.
Coach/Mentor Training
Some volunteers bravely “dive in” and learn on the fly from FIRST materials when they get involved in FIRST robotics. Others “bulk up” their knowledge at ARBC’s annual Coach/Mentor training. Scheduled for Saturday August 15, 2026 from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm at AHS in the robotics lab, different sections will cover what you need to know for FLL Explore (grades 2-4), FLL Challenge (grades 4-8), and FIRST Tech Challenge (grades 8-12). Our students need YOU and other adult volunteers like you to challenge yourselves. Take on the role of coaching and/or mentoring a team so that we can offer this opportunity to EVERY student who wants to participate. We have prepared material, but encourage (nay, demand) participants come equipped with their own questions for us to answer as well. Register with no obligation for training by clicking this link.
ARBC Monthly Meeting highlights from June 15th.
This was our last meeting for FY26 (ended June 30th). Work continues on increasing team communication options. The AHS Robotics Club already has students registering to participate in the new 2026-2027 season. The FTC team collectively spoke with over 1,000 people at Waterfront Festival to share information about FIRST robotics programs here in Anacortes and in our neighboring communities. Fundraising at the Vintage Motorcycle Show in Lynden on May 30th was successful. More fundraising is planned over the summer at select dates for the Port of Anacortes Summer Concert series in Seafarer’s Park. ARBC is getting ready for ASF Ready To Learn Fair on Saturday August 15th at AHS. ARBC participation in Anacortes Open Streets 2026 has a big thumbs up! The ARBC websites and parent/student interest forms have all been rolled over for the 2026-2027 FIRST Canopy season (FLL BIOGLOW, FTC BIOBUZZ). Coach/mentor training is scheduled for Saturday August 15, 2026 at AHS from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm. No meeting scheduled for July. Next monthly meeting is the 3rd Monday in August, the 17th, at 6pm at the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce – this will be the first meeting of the new ARBC fiscal year (FY27).
Help Wanted. If you see the value in having robotics programs available in Anacortes, please consider helping ARBC 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 (we really need some help for Ready to Learn Fair and Open Streets!).
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.
