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Hi there! Michelle Long, FIRST HQ  Alumni and Scholarships Programs Manager here again. And I have some questions for you: Are you a current or former FIRST Student? Have you joined the FIRST Alumni Network group on LinkedIn? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!! Join us and connect on a professional-level with other FIRST Alumni from around the world - we have raffles every few months, and group-member-only opportunities. To request membership, go to  https://www.linkedin.com/�/FIRST-Alumni-Network-81984�/about  , it's free and easy! All you need is a LinkedIn account (don't have one, see these handy quick-start tips ) and then answer a few quick questions. Also, make sure to join us for an Alumni and Scholarships Programs Q&A on Twitter @ftcteams on Wednesday, July 1 at 12:30pm ET!

The FIRST Tech Challenge annual Game Kickoff is Saturday, September 12th at 12 noon ET this year and we hope that you will be celebrating at a Kickoff event or party in your area (and if not, join one online - more info as we get closer to the date). In case you are a newcomer to FTC, welcome! Here's a little background information. Each year,  FIRST  Tech Challenge releases a new game that presents teams with fresh engineering and design challenges.  We keep the game secret until our Kickoff in September.  The Kickoff happens online, with the release of the game animation and season materials, and also at a growing number of live  Kickoff events in your regions . We are really excited to reveal this year's game at Kickoff, which is three months away still, but a lot of other exciting stuff is happening between now and then: Intelitek has released the first New Technology Training Resource , with Part II coming out later this summer, and Part III coming out e...

FIRST Tech Challenge team recruitment season is upon us! For coaches and mentors looking to add to their team for the 2015-2016 season , we�ve got some tips. Before you start recruiting, it might be helpful to ask yourself a few questions: How big is your team? How many additional team members do you need/want? What skills do your current members possess? What skills will you want to recruit for? How �old� is your team? How many members will be graduating/leaving in a year? How young do you want your new members to be? How many kids do you want to inspire? Now pull up a mental picture of your team right now. Then subtract the members who have graduated or are leaving. Ask yourself this: Who are you missing? Are you missing an Einstein ? He had Asperger�s Syndrome and had trouble concentrating in school, possibly due to dyslexia. What could he bring to the team? Are you missing a Curie ? She was poor, self-educated, and near blind. What could she bring to...

When I was a kid, we lived on a road that led from the highway to the fairgrounds, so the last week in August we haunted the front porch waiting to see the onslaught of vendor and ride trucks hurry past. At the fairgrounds, we would stand out of the way and watch empty fields turn into a magical world of tents, booths, animal stalls, and of course, rides! Then for five days the field became its own world, bustling with lights, noise, and energy that we lived within during the day and could see and hear from our bedroom window each night. And then, on Tuesday morning, they were all gone, having packed up and crept away in the middle of the night to head off to other fairs and events. The absence of that temporary world was always palpable for a few days as we re-emerged from its magic into the real world and preparations for the first day of school. If you have ever attended a FIRST Tech Challenge event, then you have also experienced a magical world called the FTC Pits. Physically, ...