August 8, 2013
Dear Prospective FIRST LEGO League Team Member and Guardians,
Welcome to the Fall 2013 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) season at Mandeville Junior High! This year will be
the first year MJH will participate in FLL. We eagerly look forward to a busy and exciting year!
FIRST LEGO League is an international engineering competition sponsored by the non-profit organization
FIRST, For Inspiration in Research and Technology. Teams consisting of no more than ten team members
compete in tournaments worldwide, designing and programming an NXT Mindstorms robot to manipulate
LEGO models on a 4'x8' map, and creating an innovative solution to a real engineering problem of their
choice. This year’s theme is "Nature’s Fury" in which teams will discover what can be done when intense
natural events meet the places people live, work and play through the exploration of awe-inspiring storms,
quakes, waves, and more that we call natural disasters.
FLL emphasizes friendly competition, teamwork, creative problem-solving, and Gracious Professionalism®
through the FLL Core Values. Teams are encouraged to compete in a cooperative manner, helping to build up
other teams while striving to put on their very best performance; FLL values this Coopertition® immensely and
a team’s demonstration of these values are included in a their total score at competition.
All prospective team members must fill out an application form to indicate commitment. Each team can have
up to ten participants at competition. If more than twenty students apply (ten per team) then some students
MAY be chosen as alternates. Alternates would attend all activities, participate at all school related functions,
could choose to attend competition as a non-competing observer, and have the possibility of moving up to the
team if team members failsto meet the FLL Core Values and the MJH FLL rules.
A Parent/Student Meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 13, 2013 in the library at 6:30. Applications
are due to Mrs. Martinez on Friday, August 16, 2013 at the end of the school day. Team members will be
announced on Monday, August 19, 2013 on the MJH announcements. Our first FLL meeting will take place on
Thursday, August 22, 2013, 2:35-4:00
Both MJH FLL teams will participate in a qualifying competition on either Saturday, November 9th or 16th.
MJH is hoping to attend the qualifying on the Northshore. If a team (or teams) qualifies then they would attend
the championship at Holy Cross in New Orleans on Saturday, December 7, 2013.
I have pages dedicated to FLL on my Teacher Web page. You may visit my site or other FLL related sites for
more info. (Addresses of such sites can be found on the attached page.)
We are looking forward to a great season of engineering with you!
Sincerely,
Tracey Martinez
MJH FLL Coach
David Hyman
MJH FLL Coach
MJH FLL Expectations
National FLL http://www.firstlegoleague.org
Louisiana FLL http://www.lafll.org
1. Students are expected to attend all meetings. If a student must miss a meeting, Mrs. Martinez
should be informed of such an absence as soon as possible. Missing too many meetings or
meetings with unexcused absences could jeopardize a team member’s standing on the team.
2. Students are expected to follow and practice the FLL Core Values during all FLL sessions. In
competitions students are judged heavily on their interactions using the Core Values.
(http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues) A student failing to practice the Core Values
could jeopardize his/her standing on the team.
3. An alternate, if any, will have to adhere to the FLL Expectations or risk his/her standing as an
alternate team member. It IS possible for an alternate to move from the alternate member status to
full team member if a spot on the team opens.
4. Students are expected to have a ride home at FLL dismissal time. A student who does not have a
ride at FLL dismissal time could jeopardize his/her standing on the team (or as an alternate).
5. Meetings will be held as follows during FLL season
a. Thursdays, 2:35-4:00
b. Fridays, 2:35-4:00
c. Some Saturday as announced, depending on team progress
d. Possibly other days as announced
6. The Fall 2013 FLL season is relatively short considering the amount of work to be done.
a. August 1, 2013 – Release of directions to assemble the Field Setup Kit
b. August 27, 2013 – Release of rules/expectations for Nature’s Fury competition
c. A Saturday in September TBA, Location TBA – Rookie Fast Start
d. November 9 or 16, 2013 – Qualifying Competition
e. December 7, 2013 – Regional Competition at Holy Cross
7. Students are expected to arrange rides with guardians, neighbors, friends, etc. for events off
campus. Team transportation will not be arranged at this time.
8. Although students may work on one particular mission or field more than another, ALL team
members are expected to know about all aspects of FLL. Competition requires that ALL team
members be able to competently answer questions regarding all FLL areas.
9. Fall 2013 dues for all team members (including alternates) are $35. This will include one team tshirt and one notebook for each member (including alternates). MJH FLL will pay the annual
team registration, supply purchases, qualifying competition registration, and regional competition
registration. Dues do NOT cover off campus expenses such as transportation, lunch, etc.
Mrs. Martinez Teacher Web Site http://www.teacherweb.com/LA/MandevilleJuniorHigh/Martinez
Mandeville Junior High FIRST LEGO League
Application for Fall 2013 Season
Name:_______________________________________Homeroom Teacher:___________________
Please circle one on each line: (teams to be balanced based on the following):
1.
2.
3.
4.
7th grade
Male
GTT student
FLL experience
or
or
or
or
8th grade
Female
Non-GTT student
No FLL experience
If you answered ‘FLL experience’ in #4, please state your experience here:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Explain, in a few sentences, why you would like to be part of the MJH FLL team.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Extra-curricular activities in which you plan to participate during Fall, 2013. Please include school
sports, gym/park sports, after school activities both on and off campus including Scouts, dance,
church groups, etc._________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Do you feel your extra-curricular activities would interfere on Thursdays and Fridays from 2:354:00? If yes, please explain.____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
ALL members will participate in ALL aspects of the FLL preparation. ALL members attending the
qualifying and competition will participate in ALL aspects of FLL experience. Even knowing this,
please rank, in order, your interest in each area with 1 being the most interest, 2 being moderate
interest, and 3 being the least amount of interest. (You must have a 1, 2, and 3.)
_______Mechanical (building robot)
_______Programmer (computer programming the robot)
_______Researcher (researching the problem, solution, and finding/interviewing the experts)
MJH FLL AGREEMENT
A successful team depends on the commitment of all of its team members. Applicants, please initial next to
each of these statements to indicate your agreement.
__________I will support my team by attending every team meeting I possibly can. I will let the coach know
if I must miss one.
__________I will support my team by working on project and mission assignments outside of team meeting
times.
__________I will both contribute my ideas and listen to the ideas of others at meetings. I will show respect for
the ideas of other team members.
__________I will update my log in the FLL notebook provided by FLL during each work session to selfmonitor and document team progress.
__________I will make a commitment to attend the qualifying competition if I possibly can.
__________I will make a commitment to attend the regional competition for my team if I possibly can.
__________I will use all of the team meeting time productively.
__________I will show respect and Gracious Professionalism® in all of my activities.
__________I will follow the Core Values required by FLL.
__________With my team I will give my best effort to solve challenging problems. I will cooperate with the
team in finding a solution and carrying it out.
__________My team is responsible for creating all of the materials for the problem, solution, and presentation,
and doing all of the programming and building for the robotics.
Applicant’s signature____________________________________________Date_______________
Printed Applicant’s name_________________________________________
A successful team depends also on appropriate parental support. Guardians, please initial next to each of these
statements to indicate your agreement.
_____________I agree, in the proper spirit of FLL, not to interfere with the team’s solutions. All creations,
inventions, and ideas must come from the team members.
_____________I agree to make every effort to have my child attend every team meeting. If there is a conflict,
either my child or I will notify the coach as soon as possible. I understand that my child has a commitment to
his/her team.
_____________I realize that my child’s coach will be contributing a significant amount of time and effort to
providing a rewarding experience for the team. I will try to be as cooperative and helpful as possible.
_____________I agree to discuss all items listed above with my child.
Guardian's signature________________________________________________ Date_______________