Last Call for teams to attend the Expos at Evergreen Aviation Museum

This week is your team's last chance to sign up to attend the FIRST LEGO League Jr Expos at Evergreen Aviation Museum on May 6. Currently 2 expos are being planned; however, if enough teams do not register we will consolidate them into one event.

Eagle Expo: 9:30am -12:30pm
Falcon Expo: 1:00pm - 5:00pm

If your team has not applied to attend this event, please register using this link.

These expos are free and open to the public. The expo will take place on the mezzanine in the Evergreen Aviation Museum. We will be overlooking the Spruce Goose. The stairway and elevator can be accessed by the children's area. Spectators who would also like to see the museum may purchase admission at the education discount of $15 for both museums, or $18 for both museums and a movie! Team members and 2 adult coaches will receive wristbands for museum admission.

Teams can not apply to attend this event AFTER Sunday, April 23rd. Event assignment will be sent out the week of April 24th.

Best Wishes,
Loridee

Creature Craze National Registration Closes, Evergreen Expo, World Festival

Greetings FIRST LEGO League Jr Oregon,

In this post you will find:

1. National Registration for Creature Craze Closes
2. Evergreen Aviation Expo Registration Open
3. Aqua Adventure Registration Information
4. Good Luck Oregon teams at the World Festival
5. DonorsChoose.org and Newscorp Partner for FIRST

1) National Registration for Creature Craze Closes

FIRST LEGO League Jr National Registration for the 2016 season, Creature Craze closes on April 4. If your team would like to participate in the challenge, now is the time to finish your national registration. 

• Go to www.firstinspires.org
• Login using the option in the upper right corner
• Select PAY THIS SEASON'S TEAM REGISTRATION from the Dashboard
• If there are any errors, please fix them before proceeding.

Your team must have two adult coaches who have completed the YPP background check with Verified Volunteers. Your team must also have a physical address listed for the Inspire kit to be shipped to. These are the two most common problems for teams this year.

Feel free to email with questions or concerns. If your question is about the background check, the web form may be faster than me. 

2) Evergreen Aviation Expo Registration Open

All Nationally registered teams are welcome to register to attend the Evergreen Aviation FIRST LEGO League Jr expos on May 6. 

Register Online for the Expo.

On May 6, 2017 at the Evergreen Aviation Museum

From 9am-1pm the Eagle Expo 

From 1:30pm-5:30pm the Falcon Expo

*Team animals do not need to correspond to the names Eagle and Falcon, these are just fun names used to tell the expos apart.

**While we will try to hold the expo in a free part of the museum, spectators will need admission to see the museum. Discounted rates are available for team family members and friends. Team members and their 2 adult coaches will receive free admission to the museum.

If your team already attended the OMSI expo, you may still attend the Evergreen expos if there is space. Your team needs to register again and will need to pay the expo registration fee if selected. Preference will be given to teams who have not attended an official expo.

3) Aqua Adventure Registration Information
Aqua Adventure registration will open in May with materials to ship on August 1. If you would like to stay ahead on your planning your team can prepare to register early! Registration costs are going up for the 2017 season, as each registration now comes with all the LEGO you need, except for the WeDo 2.0 kit. 

An Individual team National Registration will be $99 for Aqua Adventure

A small season pass for up to 144 kindergarten through 4th-grade students will be $895 

A large season pass for up to 288 kindergarten through 4th-grade students will be $1,750

Season passes may be shared by schools, libraries, museums, or across a school district. The season pass is designed to be used as a rotating program with 1/3 - 1/2 the teams operating in the fall and the other groups in the winter and/or spring, depending on if the program is run in trimesters or semesters. If you would like more information about using a season pass at your organization please feel free to contact Loridee-Wetzel@ortop.org.

Is your team closer to Hood River and The Dalles? One more expo is in the works, please watch for more communication soon!

4) Good Luck Oregon teams at the World Festival

The FIRST World Championships and World Festival for Oregon teams will be in Houston, Texas on April 19-22nd. 

Representing Oregon will be:

FIRST LEGO League Jr team:

8286 Bumblebee Jr, Friends & Family, Portland - chosen by lottery in January

FIRST LEGO League our first place Champion's Award winners

11687, The Pandroids, Wy'east Middle School, Hood River

1833, The G.E.A.R.S. (Girls Engineering and Robotics Superstars), West Linn/Tualatin neighborhood team, Tualatin 

FIRST Tech Challenge teams:

750, Gears in Motion, Tigard High School, Tigard - Lottery Winner

3525, Dynamite Robotics, Banks High School, Banks - Lottery Winner

4855, Batteries in Black, Washington County 4H, Portland - 3rd Place Connect Award & Winning Alliance

7013, Hot Wired, Westview High School, Portland - 2nd Place Innovate Award

7750, Mechanical Maniacs, 4H, Sutherlin - Highest Ranked Team from Cascade Winning Division

8045, Gromit’s Grommets, Pleasant Hill High School, Pleasant Hill - Control Award Winner & Finalist Alliance

8176, Steelhead, Hood River Valley High School, Hood River - Think Award Winner; 3rd Place Motivate Award

9769, Total Chaos, Total Chaos 4H Club, Portland - Connect Award Winner

10060, Klamath Coyotes, Eagle Ridge High School, Klamath - 3rd Place Innovate Award

We hope to add several FIRST Robotics Competition teams to this list and wish all Oregon FIRST Robotics Competition teams the best of luck in their District Championship this week in Cheney, WA. 

5) DonorsChoose.org and Newscorp Partner for FIRST

Through a generous donation from NewsCorp in partnership with DonorsChoose.org, funding is available to help start or support a FIRST® team. Funding is available to any educator in a public or public charter school located in the United States, employed full time by the school or school district and works directly with students at least 75 percent of the time. Funding can be used for registration fees, materials, reasonable and customary FIRST team travel costs. Tell the educators in your area to visit www.donorschoose.org/first to get started