August 2015 Team Blast Email

2015-16 Season Now Open!
The REC Foundation is pleased to share information about the new season and this year’s new games, VEX IQ Challenge Bank Shot and VEX Robotics Competition Nothing But Net! New documents and season planning information is added each week, so please check in often for the materials you need at www.RoboticsEducation.org - http://www.roboticseducation.org and be sure to register your team today at www.RobotEvents.com - http://www.robotevents.com!

REC Foundation Kicks Off Teacher Workshops in Florida & Kentucky!
The REC Foundation participated in two recent teacher workshops with the Alachua County School District in Gainesville, Florida and with the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky. Both locations are committed to adopting the VEX IQ Challenge and the VEX Robotics Competition to advance student interest in STEM and incorporate 21st century skills, like communication and problem-solving, into their curriculum. The Florida training took place July 21-24 and the Kentucky training took place August 3-5, for more information see: WCJB-TV: Robotics Coming to Alachua County Public Schools - http://www.wcjb.com/local-news/2015/07/robotics-coming-alachua-county-public-schools or Jefferson County: New Robotics Curriculum. - Jaeger Education Center -- New Robotics Curriculum - YouTube

Make It Real CAD Engineering Challenge Sponsored by Autodesk®!
The REC Foundation invites our talented student community to begin designing the future of robotics today with the Make It Real CAD Engineering Challenge Sponsored by Autodesk®! At some point in the season, have you ever wished you had a certain component not included in the kit of parts? Now you have the opportunity to design that custom part specifically for this Online Challenge. Possible prizes include a 3D printer and VEX Robotics gift cards. Begin working on your submission today: Make It Real CAD Engineering Challenge Sponsored by Autodesk® - http://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2015/07/autodesk-make-it-real-cad-engineering-challenge.pdf

VEX IQ Automated Build Instructions & Accessories
VEX IQ Challenge now provides automated build instructions - http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/explore - and new robot builds to give students and teams better understanding of how components are intended to work together. In addition, new product accessories - http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/products/accessories/?ref=tile - are now available to supplement robotics kits and add to the fun of building experience!

VEX IQ SnapCAD FREE Download Available
Create, share and teach with one easy-to-use program: SnapCAD! SnapCAD is a community-built solution for designing virtual VEX IQ models and creating printable, shareable instructions for them. Use SnapCAD to test out a novel idea in the virtual world before building it physically, or to share your creations with the world in the form of step-by-step build instructions. Visit VEX IQ SnapCAD - http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/software/snapcad - today to learn more about this new FREE offering and check out SnapCAD tutorials - http://www.robotc.net/blog/2015/07/09/snapcad/

Sponsor Spotlight: Harris Corporation
The REC Foundation is excited to welcome Harris Corporation as a new global sponsor this season. Harris supports programs committed to engaging students in STEM education, which makes them a great partner for the REC. Harris recruits heavily from top US universities’ engineering programs to join their community “culture of group collaboration and individual inspiration.” Harris has committed to funding team grants in the VEX U program this season and you can visit them at the 2016 VEX Worlds in Louisville. Check out this info sheet outlining their Commitment to Education and the Community - http://harris.com/pdf/corporate_responsibility/Comm_to_ed_cmty_mil.pdf - and follow them on Twitter - https://twitter.com/HarrisCorp - to see all the cool stuff they’re involved with around the world.

Microsoft: #UpgradeYourWorld with @REC_Foundation Today!
The REC Foundation has the chance to win $500k and technology from Microsoft. Public voting will determine the winner so please vote for us each day using #UpgradeYourWorld and #Vote on Twitter @REC_Foundation] or on Instagram @recfoundation] and include our handle. For more information, visit Windows.com/UpgradeYourWorld - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/upgradeyourworld/

The REC Foundation’s Mission Statement
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable, and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. For more information, visit www.roboticseducation.org - http://www.roboticseducation.org.

Past E-Mails Available
Archives of all email blasts from this season can always be found here - https://vexforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=281.

Not Getting These E-mails?
Many organizations automatically block group e-mails. You have two options:

  1. Request that your IT department “White List” emails from mail.vresp.comand/or white list e-mails from the following IP addresses: 74.116.89.0/24 74.116.91.0/24 66.151.143.0/24
  2. Make sure the alternate email address in your robotevents.comhttp://robotevents.com/ team account is different – not a school address.