Advice and Information for ARBC-sponsored teams

E-mail messages to FLL Explore Coaches.  The national FIRST program and the Washington state FIRST partner organizations send e-mail messages to the official team coaches throughout the season.  The messages contain critical information about the season.  Since you don’t start getting the messages until you are a registered coach, use these links to the archives to catch up on past messages:

Per-student Team Startup Contributions.  The per-student contributions to team startup costs that ARBC collects to get a team registered are due as soon as students are placed on teams.  Coaches should collect the fees from parents/guardians (fee amount is on the pre-registration page) and submit them to ARBC using this Startup Contributions Form. Instructions (including where to send the form) are included on the form.

Read on for advice such as:

Ten Steps for Getting Started

These ten steps may sometimes overlap or need to completed out of order – adapt and overcome as needed!

1. Form a team

Teams can be formed from any group of like-minded individuals of the appropriate age/grade for the program.  ARBC assists with team formation by collecting the names of interested students which we share with the people who have volunteered to coach teams.  An FLL Explore team must have two adult coaches for up to six students; please volunteer to coach if you can!

2. Select a meeting location

Teams can meet anywhere that is acceptable to all parents and students involved with the team.  Ideal meeting locations have enough room for the team to meet and carry out their work, and to store their materials between team meetings.  Many teams meet in the students’ school for efficiency; this requires support from a teacher, librarian, or administrative staff to find an available location.

3. Select meeting days/times

FLL Explore teams meet once per week for about 12 weeks (can be tailored up or down depending on time availability).  Meetings should be about 90 minutes.  Younger students may find longer meetings difficult unless they are truly motivated.  Making the most of the available meeting time works best with engaged students.  Afternoons after school are a popular time choice, especially for teams that meet in school facilities.  All students/parents must be committed to the selected days/times – team members that arrive late/leave early will disrupt the team’s work.

4. Complete the on-line FIRST coach signup

Two team coaches (and any mentors working at least 30% with a team) must register with FIRST and complete a background check process.  The ARBC FLL Explore administrator sets up the official team entry with FIRST, then “invites” the coaches to complete their registration and background check.  Coaches – please complete your registration as soon as you receive the invitation.

FIRST account login page (Your invitation contains the correct URL; you’ll only need this direct link if you lose it and don’t have a bookmark.)

5. Collect per-student team startup contributions from parents

These funds are needed to help cover the cost of getting the team officially registered with FIRST and to cover other startup expenses.  Checks (made out to ARBC) are the currently preferred collection method.  Must be collected as soon as the team starts meeting.

6. Acquire/review season materials and team equipment 

Most of the FIRST seasonal challenge materials are available on-line and can be downloaded; some are also provided in hardcopy form once your team is registered.  ARBC loans LEGO WeDo sets to teams that ARBC sponsors; ARBC also orders/pays for those team’s official FIRST season materials using a combination of the team startup contributions and ARBC resources as needed.

If you have questions about any of the resources such as how or whether you are expected to use them, please contact the ARBC FLL Explore administrator for help.  (Send e-mail to Info@AnacortesRobotics.org if you don’t know who to ask.)

7. Start holding meetings

Use the FIRST-provided  materials to organize and conduct the team meetings.  FIRST includes planned sessions for 12 meetings.  Coaches can tailor the material up or down to meet team needs.  (“Tailor” means add or remove material to fit time/interest or other constraints.)

8. Formally register the team members with FIRST

Once a team has started meeting, coaches must “Invite” parents to register their students on the FIRST website to complete the team registration with FIRST.   The ARBC team formation process collects the parent’s e-mail addresses; the ARBC FLL Explore team administrator will share them with you if necessary.

9. Ask for help/guidance as needed

Part of ARBC’s support for teams is help and guidance for solving problems that may arise.  If a team’s coaches and parents have issues with understanding how to guide the team, contact the ARBC FLL Explore administrator (use Info@AnacortesRobotics.org if you don’t know the person’s direct e-mail).

10. Have fun, stay sane.

An FLL Core Value is having fun (usually while working hard).  Coaches work hard, but should have fun, too.  Ask for help/guidance as needed by contacting the ARBC FLL Explore administrator or sending e-mail to Info@AnacortesRobotics.org.

Planning Team Meetings – FLL Explore MASTERPIECE Session Slides

FIRST has created a set of slides (PowerPoint format) that might help you plan your team’s sessions.  They might be most useful as sources of ideas rather than strict guidance.  They might benefit coaches more than students (can kids even sit through PowerPoint slide presentations?).  You may have to download each set of slides to your computer if your browser doesn’t display them directly.

Going to an FLL Explore Exposition

FLL Explore isn’t a competition, so you won’t be leading the team to a tournament.  We celebrate FLL Explore teams with an Exposition instead.  The program materials you receive after your team is registered explain what the team needs to do to get ready for the Exposition.  As a coach, you should keep the parents and student team members informed about their end of season Exposition.

Although FIRST Washington holds FLL Explore Expositions/Celebrations, they are typically co-events with other FIRST tournaments, and often located an hour or more away from Anacortes.  ARBC holds our own local Expositions, so check with the ARBC FLL Explore administrator for the date/time of the Exposition at the end of your FLL Explore season.

You can attend as many expositions as you would like with your team, but you’ll have to sign up for most of them individually.  All ARBC-sponsored teams are automatically signed up for our local Exposition.