No, our FLL Challenge program is free to participate in.  If you'd like to make a donation, please visit our donate page to support the efforts of the Tolland County Robotics Foundation.

No, parents are not required but are more than welcome to stay for the duration of the program.  Parents are encouraged to help their child in any way they can.  Some parents even become mentors, and if you're interested please email admello@tcrobotics.org.  No experience is needed to mentor or contribute to the program, there are plenty of ways for parents to help out!

The program is from late August to mid-December.  Students meet 5-6 hrs/week. All teams will participate in an offseason event in mid January. Teams will likely meet once in January before the event to prepare their robot.

We utilize Remind, a communication platform that allows us to send out messages to all parents of students in our programs, and parents to individually contact mentors.  Information on how to join can be found when you sign up.

No, there is no residency requirement for any of our programs. For our teams at Mansfield Middle School, you must be a student at Mansfield Middle School.

In this program, students commit to a team.  As such we expect students to attend every session.  We understand that illness and other issues may arise, but we hope that every family that signs up commits to the program.

Yes, students will be working in teams of 6-9 students for the duration of the season.

The program is run by mentors of the Tolland County Robotics Foundation who receive training and go through a background check.  Some of these mentors are parents, college students, or alumni of the FIRST Robotics program. Our teams at Mansfield Middle School are run in partnership with MMS teachers and foundation mentors.

Yes, at the end of the season, students attend an end-of-the-year competition where they will compete against teams from all over the state. Teams will participate in a pre season scrimmage at UConn in early November to give students a preview of a competition.  Their official competition will be towards the end of November. Teams that do well may be selected to move on to the state championship, which will be held in mid-December. 

After students become too old for FIRST Lego League Challenge, they can participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge.  Please visit that page of our site for more information.

If the team advances to the state championship, they will continue to meet after their first competition until their second competition (the state championship), which is held at Glastonbury High School.

While the innovation challenge doesn't always involve hard STEM skills, it is an incredible way for students to learn real-world skills that set them up for success.  This part of the program helps students develop critical thinking, presentation skills, research skills, creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving.  Most importantly, the innovation project helps demonstrate to the students how science and technology can be used to improve the world.