Seasonal Information

• In pre-season we strive to gain membership, hold information sessions and assign roles for the upcoming build season.
• During the build season, Rapid Acceleration is tasked with designing, building and testing a new robot each year within a six-week time frame. In this season, we lists the important tasks that need to be accomplished. We break them down into two main sections – Mechanical and Business.
• Rapid Acceleration uses the off-season to work on fundraising, volunteering and outreach in our community. We work on our business plan, budget for the coming year, scheduling for the off-season months, create a newsletter, ect. We also use this time to evaluate our season success and failures. We take notes of what worked well and what did not and plan accordingly for the next season.
• Preseason runs from October – December. We use this time to teach all aspects of the team, develop sub-teams, work on award submissions and prepare for build season. We typically meet twice a week and attend a few outreach events a month.
• Build Season starts on the first Saturday in January. This is when the challenge is released and from that day on, the team has 6 weeks to design, build, program and test a robot for competition. We meet 4 nights a week and all days on Saturdays. We don’t expect students to be at every single meeting, but we do require active participation when they are there. The build season is intense and we need everyone on board in order to have a successful season.
• The team competes in Denver, CO at the Colorado Regional Competition held at the University of Denver Ritchie Center. This year the competition is held March 22-24.
• After competition, the team uses our time to provide outreach to the community. We help with Kid’s Fairs, STARBASE SD, STEM Camps and the STEAM^2 Initiative in the Rapid City Area School District. We also participate in cleaning up Storybook Island, feeding the homeless and packing backpacks to feed students on the weekends.

FIRST Scholarship Program

• More than $50 million in college scholarships in 2017
• Nearly 900 scholarship opportunities
• Nearly 200 scholarship providers

Overall Reach - All Programs Combined (projected for the 2013/14 season)

• 350,000+ students
• 32,600 teams
• 28,800 robots
• 64,000+ Mentors/adult supporters
• 66,000+ other Volunteers (e.g. event Volunteers, Affiliate Partners, VISTAs)

2014 FIRST Robotics Competition

• 2,720 teams
• 68,000 high-school students (Grades 9-12)
• 54 Regional Events; 4 Qualifying Championships; 40 Qualifying (District) Competitions
• FIRST Robotics Competition Championship at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO, April 23-26, 2014
• Robots are built in 6 weeks from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST, and typically weigh up to 150 lbs.

FIRST Robotics Competition for Grades 9-12