I hope this finds everyone well and surviving this COVID world the best they can! I know that usually by now we have had our team kick-off meeting, but I just don’t have enough answers to the questions you all have right now. I just wanted to drop a note to let everyone one know where we are with the FTC and FRC seasons and let you know what we know.

Today kicked off the FTC season with a new game “Game Changer”. What an appropriate title for the world we live in now! FTC build team will start working next week at the school and an event will be posted for the build team. Please note that due to COVID restrictions placed on teams right now, we must limit the number of students working at the school. PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE SCHOOL IF YOU ARE NOT ON THE BUILD TEAM. Everyone will be involved this season as well, just not in a face-to-face situation. More on this will follow.

On Tuesday I have a video meeting with Mrs. Contreras, who is the chair of FIRST in Florida. I am hoping to get some clarity on what the FRC season will look like. As you may have heard, the season has been extended into late-July. This leads me to think they may be planning to have a regular competition season, but with a later start date. (This is purely speculation on my part and something I hope to find out more about on Tuesday!) Once I meet with her, I will schedule an all-member Zoom meeting so that we can discuss the season and let you know what the expectations will be for FRC this year.

Finally, I have a request for all of you. A few days before the Orlando Regional, I received a shipment of about 50 cases of candy for fund raising. However, we were never able to start this fund raiser because the school shut down that week and didn’t reopen for the rest of that school year. SOOOO the candy is still sitting in my media center….all alone…waiting! (Note: it is NOT chocolate that has been sitting all summer!) When we do a candy sale, the candy is purchased and paid for when we receive it, and then the sales money goes back into our account as it is sold and turned in. That was never able to happen. Right now, because of COVID, we do not have any guidelines for candy sales other than we can’t sell at school. What we need is for team members to buy at least one box. The box is $52. Your family then could take and sell wherever you want – family members, work breakrooms, neighborhood friends, etc. Selling one box would count as one fund raiser. By doing this we can get the candy sold, money back in our account, and you will earn a fund raising credit. (You can buy more than one box if you want). Please think about whether you are willing and able to help us sell this candy! If you are interested, leave me a comment on this post. We will then figure out how to get the candy to you.

Pink Team—-your mentors have missed you! We can’t wait to get back together and see how you shake that thang! Look for an event invite from me next week sometime after my meeting so we can get together and talk about this new, crazy year.