September 2, 2025 | firstalberta.ca

Hello and Bonjour Teams!

Only one more week until we kickoff the DECODE season and we wanted to send another kickoff reminder and let you know about grant opportunities.

1. DECODE Kickoff
2. FTC Sim Rookie Grants
   
3. Team Hardship Grants

DECODE Kickoff

Save the date! The DECODE Kickoff is on September 6, 2025. Doors will open at all 3 locations at 9AM with the official kickoff video starting at 10AM sharp. The 3 locations are:

• TELUS World of Science - Edmonton
• Nelson Mandela High School (Calgary)
• TELUS Spark (Calgary)

Please register for kickoff using a new Ticketing Form to obtain your team’s ticket to kickoff. This is mandatory for all teams wanting to attend the kickoff at TELUS Spark due to limited capacity. If you have already registered for kickoff, you will still need to re-register to obtain your “tickets” and we know where to send any ordered field sets.

DECODE Kickoff video starts at 10AM sharp! Make sure to be on site by 9:30. We will also be welcoming attendees at TELUS World of Science - Edmonton and Nelson Mandela High School location to participate in a speed Basic Bot build using the new Studica kit! Stay back after our DECODE season Q&A to help build the new robot!

FTC Sim Rookie Grants

For all our rookie teams, the FTC SIM grant is back. There are 100 grants of $1,000 USD available. The only requirement is that your students complete some basic coding challenges in an FTC simulation. This will also help your students learn how to code your robot!

Please visit here for more information.

Team Hardship Grants

Are you looking for extra funding support this year? The FIRST Tech Challenge Hardship Grant is back with some changes to its award process!

This year all FIRST Tech Challenge Hardship Grants will be awarded through your Program Delivery Partner’s nominations! The grant is also no longer limited to rookie teams!

Please review the grant webpage to learn more about the eligibility requirements for this grant and the next steps. If your team meets all of the eligibility requirements for this grant, you can email philippe@firstalberta.ca and joshua@firstalberta.ca. In your email, please outline why your team needs this grant and what it will mean to the team to get it. Please keep in mind that this grant is need-based and our focus is on making the program more accessible.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us! We are here to help. Unless you have a specific question for one of us, please feel free to use the generic FIRST Tech Challenge leadership team email (firsttechchallenge@firstalberta.ca) so you can get a faster response from one of our dedicated members.

Your FIRST Tech Challenge Alberta Leadership Team