We Are Raising Funds!

We are taking the advice of our fundraising mentor to heart and creating a crowdfunding page. We are a little nervous about it because we have never asked our friends and family for money before. But we trust Kimber when she says that the biggest reason people don't give is because they aren't asked. And we think we are a good investment!

We choose Piggybackr as our crowdfunding site. It allows each team member to create his or her own page, the team will get it's money even if the goal isn't reached, and it transfers money to our team bank account as it is given.

Check out our team page: https://www.piggybackr.com/diane_grant/ctrl-alt-del-ftc-team-7361-help-us-build-our-robot-fundraiser

We hope you will consider supporting our team!

Kudos to Kimber

Every year, we talk about raising money for robot parts, tools, travel, and other expenses. But we don't get very far with the idea because we don't really know how to do it. Things might be different this year!

Kimber Burgess paid a visit to our shop to talk to us about fundraising. Her education and experience are in working with non-profits and fundraising. And what she had to share was awesome!

Some key things we learned:

• The main reason people don't give is because they aren't asked. 
• We have a compelling story to tell that people will want to be a part of.
• Fundraising isn't "begging," it's inviting people to be part of what we're dong. 

What's next? Kimber helped us come up with a fundraising strategy and we will be creating a crowdfunding page. Stay tuned!

 

 

Mentor Mention

There is NO way we could do all we do without our awesome mentors. Thank you Bryson Payne. He's a professor of computer science at the University of North Georgia and the author of a great book, Teach Your Kids to Code. He's also a great teacher of JAVA and because of him, we will actually know how to make our robot move.

Tom Pappagallo, Matt, Jackson, Quintin, David, Bryson Payne, Jack

Kickoff!

On September 12th, the team traveled to the FTC 2015-2016 kickoff! There we learned about the robot game, which we were told was called "Res-Q." The game this year is crazy! There are so many ways to score points, it seems endless. If you want to see what we will be doing, here is the link: Res-Q

The team also split up to go and attend some of the "workshops" at the kickoff, where they would learn about specific things such as java, how to use social media to spread awareness of the team, and other topics that would be needed later in the year.

After the kickoff ended, we all went to Chick-fil-A to brainstorm ideas on how to score the most points in the shortest time possible. We came up with lots of drawings and ideas on how the chassis should look and work, and I think it's safe to say that we're off to a great start.

We still have an enormous amount of work to do, and we are nowhere near being done with anything, that's for sure. We're keeping our heads up, and looking towards the future with open minds, and creative fingers.

New Member

Not only did we gain two other previous members from previous FLL years, but we also have been gifted with a new member named Matt. He is a smart,
gentle, wonderful person who we could definitely use on our team. We can't wait to work with him and create new bonds and friendships throughout the season with everyone!

Here is a little about him:

I have 2 dogs, 2 parents, 3 aunts, 2 uncles, 1 grandma, and 4 cousins, and, except for my dogs and my parents, they all live out of country, Mostly in South Africa. 

I joined FTC because I wanted to learn the heart of programming, and, having done FLL for 4 years, I also got a bit tired of the project. The thing that interested me about this team is that the kids on the team were closer to my age. Unlike some other FTC teams of just highschoolers, either way I could have a lot of fun. 

I look forward to learning how to program android and learning to control robots. My main job on the team is coordinating things like spirit wear, outreach events, scheduling meetings with mentors and mentees, and other important tasks like that.

You can read Matt's full bio here.

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Second Official Meeting!

Although it's really early in the season for us, we're hoping to get off to a great start so that we can finish even better. We're all working hard to overcome the struggle to learn Java, but it's pretty difficult to learn a new language in a few weeks. Our spirit is big and hopeful right now, and can only get bigger.

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