Hi , 

Coming to you from FIRST^® LEGO^® League HQ in Manchester, NH, USA. 

Catch up on previous emails here. 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We have the opportunity to create the future and decide what that’s like.” 
-Mae Jemison, Astronaut/ Engineer  

WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT

Extended Hours: Team Support will have extended customer support available until 8:00 p.m. ET on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until October 31. They can be reached via 1-800-871-8326 or (603) 666-3906, extension 0, via live chat, or via email. 

Dive into the SUBMERGED^SM Session Slides: As you are working through the sessions in the Engineering Notebook with your team, don’t forget to utilize the SUBMERGED Session Slides as a helpful tool to guide your team through each corresponding session! The slides also provide more information and helpful tips about the three (3) lessons teams complete in the SPIKE^TM Essential app.   

Just diving in? Check out the SUBMERGED Welcome Video for details about what to expect this season. 

OceanX Education Live Q&A Sessions: OceanX Education will be hosting live Zoom Q&A sessions from the OceanXplorer ship in September. These hour-long sessions will be hosted by Dr. AnnMarie Thomas, who has a background in ocean robotics and education, and a long history of involvement in FIRST^®. During the sessions, we will take questions from participants and give a tour of a few locations on the ship.  

Sign up for a session by clicking on one of the dates below. Please note that times below are in E.T. (New York City) time: 

🐙 Saturday, September 14, 5:00-6:00 a.m. 

🐙 Monday, September 16, 8:00-9:00 p.m. 

Chart your Course with Career Connections Videos: The final five SUBMERGED Career Connections videos are now available! This season, we collaborated with OceanX to highlight careers related to ocean exploration and give you inspiration for your season. 

Register Youth Team Members: The parent or guardian of every youth team member is required to complete the FIRST youth registration process for their participant before they may participate in any organized team activities. This electronic process must be completed prior to the student attending any team meetings or any FIRST events or competitions. For more information and instructions on how to complete the online youth team member registration process, visit the Youth Registration System Overview.  

Express Enrollment: Coaches and mentors in the United States and Canada with completed FIRST Youth Protection Screenings can take advantage of Express Enrollment, which provides a simplified experience on mobile and desktop to register and accept youth to FIRST teams. View Express Enrollment Coach/Mentor Instructions and the Express Enrollment Parent/Guardian Instructions. Have questions? Check out our FAQ or contact FIRST Support. 

New this Season! Text-Based Building Instructions: FIRST LEGO League is pleased to introduce Text-Based Building Instructions for SUBMERGED. These instructions are intended to support individuals with visual impairments and FIRST community members who prefer textual instructions. Created by Bricks for the Blind, a non-profit organization that brings the joy of building LEGO^® sets to blind people, this initiative is another step to make FIRST programs as accessible as possible for our community. Find the Text-Based Building Instructions on the season resources page.  

Reminder! DonorsChoose – New Funding Campaign, Now Available (U.S. only): Through the generous support from 3M, FIRST related DonorsChoose project funding is now available for educators and school employees who meet the requirements. Projects created on DonorsChoose and submitted for consideration will be reviewed to ensure they meet donor intent and partial funding will be allocated accordingly. Learn more about this opportunity!    

Reminder! FIRST Certified Professional Development: September is the last scheduled in-person regional session until the spring. Enhance your knowledge and skills by engaging in one of our upcoming sessions that involve hands-on experience with student components of the FIRST program! Sessions are available for FIRST^® LEGO^® League Discover, Explore, and Challenge. Register for a session or view the full schedule for upcoming dates listed through October 2024. If you have questions, please email FIRSTProfessionalServices@firstinspires.org.  

Upcoming In-Person & Remote Professional Development Sessions:    

🤖 September 16, 17 | FIRST Headquarters | Manchester, New Hampshire   

🤖 September 17 – October 3 | Tues/Thu | Online  

🤖 September 21 & 28 | Saturday | Online  

🤖 October 7 – 8 | Monday | Online  

And more coming soon! More dates can be found on our FIRST Professional Development page. 

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

Discover the history of our oceans, the challenges we face when exploring it, and some of the technology used by the experts! 

CELEBRATION AND SHOUTOUTS

What’s your team most excited about for the SUBMERGED season? 
Let us know with a tweet @firstlegoleague or a Facebook post, and make sure to use #SUBMERGED!