We started preseason on September 6th and our total preseason this year was 14 weeks long – two weeks longer than prior years.  After a successful preseason, we celebrated the end of preseason with a holiday party on December 11th and a white elephant gift exchange – and then finished up preseason meetings on December 15th with subteam review days.

Business

Business Project Manager: Ashley W.

Preseason has been amazing! With so many new and returning members, all of our divisions (media, outreach, finance, and awards) have been extremely successful in making strides in growing and improving all aspects of business on our team! We’re winding down for build season, but we’re still going to be engaging with our community, working through our robot finances, continuing to post on social media, and work with the Impact Awards presentation team to get that all complete before competition. 

Media: Tara S.

Visual finished up the preseason by starting the process for the Impact award video.  This video will be shown during competitions if we win the award.  Image worked on a variety of posts and our outreach booklet.  The outreach booklet is presented to judges at competition.  We also have a new promo image for our outreach catalog. All our media members did a wonderful job and we are ready for build season!

Outreach: Aria N.

Although Outreach is working year-round, our pre-season is when we work on additional projects and create new initiatives. This season we designed a brand-new outreach event centered around take-home toy kits called “Meep Boops”  and we tested them at an event with Cub Scouts.  We’re excited to keep building on our progress in the build-season and summer. Our FLL Leads also guided a team of mentors through an amazing FIRST LEGO League Challenge season (our first, in-person, since 2019). Their season culminated in two of the four teams winning awards at our local qualifier. Information about our new outreach systems and our FLL curriculum are available for you to use in our Outreach Catalog (see above). 

Finance: Grace G.

The finance team had a really successful preseason. We have had the most successful Goodwill Fundraiser ($315), Crowdfunding campaign ($12776), and Sarris Fundraiser ($809) to date! The team also kept the budget updated, worked on the Business Plan, and got prepared for the build-season orders. This year, the finance members also got to practice partnership networking by compiling an email and reaching out to various companies in hopes of starting long-term relationships. 

Student Support Director: Mia M.

Preseason was an amazing time to integrate our new position, Student Support Director! We participated in many team bonding activities, from games of Kahoot to joint art projects to scavenger hunts (even one featuring Dean Kamen) to a Friendsgiving feast, that helped integrate new members into our team, and reinforce old friendships! The FRC and FTC teams’ bonds were also strengthened, not only through team bonding but through FRC girls attending the FTC scrimmage and plans to attend the FTC competition, and always saying hi and acknowledging their success when passing by their spot in the practice field and during our All-Hands meetings. Multiple mentors gave the team talks about mental health, and “Mentor Check-Ins” were also implemented to strengthen student-mentor relationships. I am so excited to see the growth of this team throughout the build and competition seasons!

Awards: Katherine H.

During preseason, awards team members worked away at the Impact Award essays. The Woodie Flowers Essay was also written for one of our amazing mentors! Along with all the writing, we had a great Impact Award presentation team tryout and were able to form a fantastic team that will begin their training in the new season. 

Technical
Technical Project Manager: Samhita G.

During preseason, the technical side was able to implement a lot of changes that we discussed last implementing last year. We were able to implement longer subteam taste testers this year and were able to cross-train all of our members in the basics skills that are required of each and every subteam. Something new we also tried this year was an end of preseason review day where we were able to review the important skills needed to progress into the build season as well as teaching newer members about what to consider when designing a robot. All in all we were successfully able to implement changes in our technical side that provided our teammates with a more well-rounded technical skill set. 

Mechanical: Ciara A. 

With not many new girls joining mechanical this year, preseason consisted of just freshening up on old skills and getting comfortable with the new organization system made during the offseason. One of the ways we did this was by making our new outreach tools called “Meep Boops.” “Meep Boops” are made up of spare materials to train skills that’ll be needed in preseason but also can be made to different points that make it usable for kids of all ages. These skills range from using Allen keys to cutting material or using a rivet gun. They get to take these cute little robots home after the outreach event as well.

Programming: Ashley W.

With a 10-member programming team and a breakdown of 4 returning and 6 new members, preseason has been a great time to be able to help everyone get familiar and learn about programming for FRC! Starting with basic open loop and moving to more advanced aspects of programming such as PID control and sensors, everyone has improved their programming skills heading into build season!

Electrical: Kameron L.

Throughout preseason, the electrical subteam was given the rundown of electricity and its function. Additionally, they learned how the various components on the e-board and how they work together to create a functioning robot. We also used our CNC router to make an e-board this year.  As build season approached, we reviewed wire diagrams and pneumatics by assembling a can crusher. Finally, to gain some experience we worked on the swerve drive e-board, and are, now, ready for an amazing season!

Design: Rishika S.

We did the CAD thing- yay! Design subteam members learned how to use Onshape throughout, culminating with them learning about two different subsystems and using geometry. Can’t wait till build season to see it in action. We’re hitting the ground running the first week back and looking forward to build season.