Author: Davey

Idaho Regional Off Season

Idaho Regional Off Season Announcement

The FIRST Idaho FRC Regional is excited to announce

Inaugural “I²: Idaho Invitational” off season event!

We invite you to join us in playing the Infinite Recharge FIRST Game Changers 2021 game competition at the Mountain View Events Center in Pocatello, Idaho, Thursday, September 9th through Saturday, September 11th, 2021!

REGISTRATION:

Registration opens SATURDAY May 15th at noon MT.  You can access the form and pay through PayPal on our website www.idahofrcregional.org.  The registration fee per team is $450.  There is room to park trailers.

Details:

Load-in on Thursday, September 9th

Competition on Friday, September 10th and Saturday, September 11th

Load-out immediately following awards ceremony on Saturday.

Final “Registration, pay and Let’s PLAY!” due by midnight MST on August 1st.

This event will be consistent with local health distract and CDC safety measures necessary to ensure teams and spectator safety.

Registration form, deadlines, payments and more information can be found on our website www.idahofrcregional.org.

We can’t wait to see you all in September!

Hotels:

We have contacted the hotels in the near vicinity and worked out group rates.  All of these hotels require you to place your reservations by August 8th to receive those rates.

After this date, they will open the rooms up to other travelers and take the rates back to their usual amounts.
Best Western Pocatello Inn  149 rooms  (208) 237-7650
August 8th to get the group rate.  URL to book online will be added to our website ?  You can also call directly and make your reservation.
Group rate under “I-squared: Idaho Invitational”
Single Queen $90
Single King $95
Dbl queen $115
Dbl queen with sleeper sofa $125
Super 8 by Wyndham Pocatello   80 rooms (208) 234-0888
Under “I-squared:  Idaho Invitational”
Reservations need to be in by August 8th to get the rate.
Dbl Queens $80 +tax ($90.40)
Other rooms available at a different charge: Dbl Queens ADA, Queen, Queen – ADA, Queen Deluxe, King Deluxe, King Deluxe, ADA with jetted tub.
LaQuinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Pocatello    148 rooms  (208) 234-7500
Book by August 8th to get the group rate.
Under “I-squared:  Idaho Invitational”
Single Queen or King $99.
Dbl Queen $109.
Other rooms available for a different charge:  Dbl Queens – Refrigerator and Microwave  or ADA, King, Jetted tub, refrigerator and microwave, King Deluxe Suite with sofa, Family Suite – 1 King, 1 Queen, King – Refrigerator and Microwave
Dbl Deluxe King with living room
Clarion Inn – Pocatello  196 rooms (208) 237-1400
Group rate $95 per room.
Under “I-squared: Idaho Invitational”.  Make sure you book before August 8th.  They will return the rooms to inventory at that time.
2 Queens
Other rooms available at a different charge:  Single King, Single Queen, Dbl King – 1 bed with living room and King Business room
Quality Inn   52 rooms (208) 237-8155
Under “I-Squared:  Idaho Invitational”.  Be mindful of when you schedule your check out.  If you leave early, you are still responsible for what you reserved.
Group rate $99 +tax.  About 15 Dbl Queens left.  To get this rate you must make your reservation by August 8th
Other available rooms at a different rate:  King, King – 1 room suite with sofa bed area
Red Lion Inn Pocatello   150 rooms (208) 233-2200
Under “I-Squared:  Idaho Invitational”.
Group rate $90+ tax dbls , $85 +tax for singles.  To get this rate you must make your reservation by August 8th.
Dbl Queens
King
Other rooms available for a different charge:  Premium Dbl Queens, Queen, Queen – ADA
These are hotels that are one exit away but I haven’t negotiated a rate with.
Marriott Towne Suites   93 rooms  (208) 478-7000
Holiday Inn Express (208) 478-9800
Hampton Inn & Suites  (208) 233-8200
Fairfield Inn & Suites  (208) 233-9200
For those more adventurous there is a KOA campground just around the corner and up the hill.

FOOD:

After registration closes, we will be sending out a link to a boxed lunch form for all participants.  There will be no concessions at the venue but we will be bringing in boxed lunches.  Payment for these can be made through PayPal.  Volunteers lunches will be covered by the event.
There is a tab on our website with a listing of local restaurants, etc. for evening meals, or options, should you choose not to participate in the boxed lunches offering.

VOLUNTEERS:

We are excited to invite new and welcome back veteran volunteers!  To sign up as a volunteer please fill out this form.  https://forms.gle/RecwmGAaVqdtkmUW9
Our Volunteer Coordinator, Cody Race will be contacting you with your volunteer assignment or with further questions.
We’re starting at 36 teams and hoping to max out at 47 so don’t wait to register!  This invitation is being sent directly to teams in Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, and Washington!  Chief Delphi post may garner teams from California, Hawaii and beyond!  Delta Airlines flies into Pocatello Regional airport and Salt Lake is just a skip and a hop away.
There are still details to announce so keep your eyes peeled for future emails filled with little nuggets of information and watch our website for updates!
Again, I can’t WAIT to see you all in September!
Warmest personal regards,
Lisa Lalliss-Skogsberg
Regional Director, FIRST®

Navajo Mountain High School to Represent North America @ FIRST Robotics Global Challenge

Team 6546 600x450

RAINBOW CITY, UTAH — In a beautiful and isolated desert in the southwestern tip of San Juan County, Utah, a FIRST Robotics team from Navajo Mountain High School is building a robot and practice field in preparation to compete in the FIRST Global Challenge. Team Naatsis’aan (#6546) will travel to Mexico City in August to represent North America.

With the goal to ignite a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), the “Olympics”-style robotics challenge, FIRST Global, invites one team from every nation to participate in an international robotics event that builds bridges between high school students with different backgrounds, languages, religions, and customs.

This small community of around 200 people and “the most isolated chapter of the entire Navajo Nation” has rallied around the robotics team, comprised of seven Navajo Mountain High students. With few conveniently-located resources — the nearest Home Depot is nearly three hours away — the team used what supplies they had on hand.

A FIRST Robotics team from Australia, the Thunder Down, reached out and convinced the Navajo Mountain High students to start the Naatsis’aan team (which translates to “Navajo Mountain”). The Waterford Academy Ravens robotics team and the CocoNuts team from Coconino High in Arizona have also served as mentors and had successful partnerships with Naatsis’aan. “We’re eternally grateful to all the people who stepped up to help us out,” states Conrad.

“The whole point of FIRST [Robotics programs] is having to work together to succeed,” Daniel Conrad, the Naatsis’aan’s founding coach, said in a short break from enthusiastically helping the team prepare for the competition. “As an educator, these kids have proven my personal mission statement that all kids are capable of doing something special if they have people who believe in them.”

Team 6546 (2) 450x600Accompanying the team to Mexico City on Aug. 14 will be Heather Anderson, Team Naatsis’aan Robotics coach for next year. Of her many roles in the community and school Anderson says, “I wear a lot of hats, but FIRST is by far the most fun!”

Team North America includes the following students:

  • Ruby Anderson
  • Breana Bitsinnie
  • Jason Slender
  • Myra King
  • Evan Smallcanyon
  • Chaydin Atene and
  • Terrell Platero

About FIRST Global: The mission of FIRST Global is to inspire science and technology leadership and innovation in young people from all nations in order to increase understanding, impress the importance of cooperation, address the world’s most pressing issues, and improve quality of life for all. This mission is accomplished through the FIRST Global Challenge that culminates with an international robotics game, which will be held in a different nation each year. By showing the youth of the world that if they learn how to communicate, cooperate, and work together using the tools of science and engineering to find solutions to the world’s grand challenges – water, energy, security, medicine, food, and education – they will learn how to work with each other, trust each other, and become part of a truly global community.