HARDSHIP GRANTS ARE AVAILABLE to aid teams that would otherwise be unable to participate in FIRST LEGO League without some assistance. If you are interested in applying for a Hardship Grant for your FIRST LEGO League CHALLENGE (ages 9-14) or EXPLORE (ages 6-10) team, please complete this application. For CHALLENGE teams, the grant will pay for a maximum of 2 of the 3 registration items (robot, registration, field set). For EXPLORE teams, 1 or both items may be chosen. The most important consideration in the grant application is your explanation of the hardship. If available, it can be very helpful to include information on your school’s statistics for free and reduced lunch, but it does not necessarily eliminate your application if you don’t have it.
The DEADLINE to be considered for the first round of these Hardship Grants is Wednesday, May 8th. The 1st round of funding is provided by LA STEM Region 1 for teams in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John Parishes. Applications from teams in all parishes in LA will be considered in the 2nd round, which has a DEADLINE of June 30th. All unfunded applications submitted in the first round will be automatically considered in the 2nd round.
ALL of the items below must be filled out to be eligible. For the 1st round of grants, if you are a new team and do not have a team number, please just enter 00000, as this year’s national registration does not open until mid-May. For our second round of grants, if you are a new team, creating a team profile in the registration system at http://www.firstinspires.org will generate a temporary team number. To begin, create an account (user name and password), and it will take you to your “dashboard”, where you can create a team. DO NOT PAY FOR YOUR REGISTRATION OR MATERIALS IF YOU ARE REQUESTING THE GRANT TO COVER THOSE EXPENSES!!! The grant cannot reimburse already paid expenses.
Questions regarding the hardship grants or this form may be addressed to the LA FIRST LEGO League Challenge Partners: Dr. Michelle Sanchez or Dr. Annette Oertling.