Good day, Teams and Volunteers,
Welcome to the thirteenth email blast for the upcoming PA FIRST Tech Challenge Season. Please liberally and broadly share this email with your parents, students, friends, co-workers and acquaintances in and outside of the FIRST robotics community.
As always, if you missed our first 12 blasts of the season, please go to our Communications page to reference Announcements and Archive Emails for this and all past seasons.
https://www.ftcpenn.org/communications
Dean’s List Overview:
In an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding secondary school students, the Kamen family sponsors an award for selected tenth and eleventh grade students known as the FIRST® Robotics Competition and FIRST® Tech Challenge Dean’s List.
The students who earn FIRST Dean’s List status as a Semi-finalist, Finalist or Winner, are great examples of current student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST and its mission, champion FIRST Core Values such as Inclusion, and embody Gracious Professionalism®. Dean’s List Award Winners also reflect the diversity of the FIRST community. It is the goal of FIRST that these individuals will continue, post-award, as great leaders, student alumni, and advocates of FIRST. For more information:
https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc/deans-list
Nominate your students TODAY!
Mentors/coaches must review the Dean’s List Nomination Guide prior to making their Dean’s List nomination. Nominations must be made using the Team Registration System.
Nomination Deadline – NEW!
The deadline for all teams to nominate students is December 15th, 2025, at 11:59pm Eastern time. This is new this season as ALL regional nominations are due on the same date, no exceptions, and nominations after this date will not be taken or considered.
Dean’s List Interview Only Event:
Every region will have a “Dean’s List Interview Only” event associated with that region. Coaches must select this event in the dropdown when they are submitting the Dean’s List nomination.
Pennsylvania Dean’s List Interviews will be conducted remotely primarily on Sat and Sun, January 24th and 25th, 2026 and will be scheduled and executed through the FTC Scoring System or equivalent. If other days or times are needed to accommodate Interview Judges and Students, we will schedule accordingly.
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2025-2026-season/deans-list-interviews
Each team may nominate up to 2 students per team who would then become Semi-Finalist in PA. This season, PA will advance four (4) PA Finalists to FIRST for consideration at the FTC Championship in Houston, TX.
Special Note: Dean’s List nominations must be made by a coach or mentor who is NOT related to the student nominee. The mentor, who is not related to either of the students, should gather the required information for the student team member to complete the submission form and essays, however, only Lead coach 1 or 2, or by a role called “Dean’ List Award Submitter” can officially submit the nomination trough the Dean’s List system. The mentor who may be designated as the “Dean’s List Award Submitter” for a FIRST team is a specific role created in the team’s dashboard to handle the submission of the award application.
In instances when a student’s parent(s) is listed as the lead coach 1 and 2, but the non-relative coach/mentor is writing the nomination, FIRST Tech Challenge has required that the non-relative mentor or coaches name be added to the end of the nomination essay.
Dean’s List Interviewers:
We are actively accepting volunteer applicants for Dean’s List Interviewers who ideally would not be related to any of the student candidates or have a team associated with conflict of interest. If interested, please volunteer through your FIRST Inspires login and search for the FIRST Tech Challenge Dean’s List event in Pennsylvania.
Please contact us at any time if you have any questions
ftc@pennfirst.org or Tom Zawislak at (302) 383-9925.
Tom and the PFR Team
Pennsylvania FIRST® Robotics
FIRST Tech Challenge® Program Delivery Partner
phone: (302) 383-9925
email: ftc@pennfirst.org
Website: www.FTCPenn.org