Volunteer
Information

Welcome, current or prospective volunteers!

The GSD planning committee is elated to host 37 teams from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island at Salem High School here in Salem, New Hampshire. Home to extensive granite formations, the White Mountains, and the birthplace of FIRST Robotics, New Hampshire is a wonderful setting to showcase the tenets of the FIRST program! As a FIRST volunteer, you have been given a unique opportunity to take the lead in demonstrating the core values and ethos of the FIRST Robotics Competition program. We appreciate your commitment to discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun, and our committee has been working hard to bring you a safe and delightful weekend of intense robot competition!

You will find lots of volunteer information specific to the event on this page. Please use it as a reference.

Thank you for volunteering your time and skills to our event!

Volunteer Info

registered Volunteer Information

Thank you for joining us at the 2025 Granite State District Event!

Food, Attire & Belongings

Volunteers will be provided with free food and snacks in the volunteer lounge throughout the entirety of the event.

Food Rules & Reminders:
- Breakfast and Lunch will be provided in the Volunteer Lounge
- Meals are for the volunteers only on the day they are volunteering
- Breakfast starts at 7:00AM
- Lunch will be available starting at 12:00PM, though a Volunteer coordinator or the lead for your area will notify you when you should head to lunch as backfilling your position may be required
- Dinner will be provided on Thursday and Friday for the following volunteers who will be staying late: Robot Inspectors, Safety Advisors, Pit Administration Support, Safety Glasses Volunteers, Field Assembly and Field Volunteers.

On-Site Concessions:
Although purchasing your own food is not necessary, on-site concessions will be offered throughout the weekend. Please do not order food to be delivered at the school. Concessions from local restaurants will be available for purchase at the event throughout the day.

Attire:
–You will receive a volunteer t-shirt for you to wear when you get to the event
–Dress comfortably and appropriately
–Wear comfortable shoes since most positions will require you to be on your feet
–Bring safety glasses if you have them.
–Load In/Welcome table/crowd control may want a sweatshirt since they may be stationed near
the high school doors

Belongings:
Personal items can be stored in the volunteer lounge during the event. This room is not always monitored throughout the day, so please do not bring valuables in with you.

Safety Information

In the case of an emergency, please notify safety personnel, personnel at the Pit Admin table/the Scorekeeping table, your lead volunteer, and/or event coordinators.

All physical injuries/illnesses, however slight, taking place at a FIRST® official event must be reported to FIRST Headquarters. Click here to go to the the FIRST® Portal for Incident Reporting.

As always, regular safety event rules (e.g. no running in the pits, wearing safety glasses/closed-toe & closed-back shoes, and handling batteries with care) apply at this event. For more general event and safety rules, see FIRST General Rules.

Local Urgent Care, Hospitals, & Pharmacies:

URGENT CARE:

Parkland Urgent Care at Salem
31 Stiles Rd Suite 1100, Salem, NH 03079
(603) 890-2727
*Open 8AM - 8PM

ConvenientMD Urgent Care
125 Indian Rock Rd, Windham, NH 03087
(603) 890-6330
*Open 8AM - 8PM

CLOSEST HOSPITALS:

Mass General Brigham Integrated Care (Salem, NH)
30 Tuscan Blvd, Salem, NH 03079
(857) 282-8100
*Open Thursday/Friday 7:30AM - 7:00PM, CLOSED Saturday

Parkland Medical Center
1 Parkland Dr, Derry, NH 03038
(603) 432-1500
*Open 24 Hours
*Emergency Room Open 24 Hours

CVS, RITE AID & WALGREENS:

Rite Aid Pharmacy
142 Main St, Salem, NH 03079
(603) 894-4429
*Store open 8AM - 9PM

*Pharmacy open Thursday/Friday 8AM - 8PM, Saturday 9AM - 5PM (30 minute break, 1:30PM - 2PM)

Walgreens
167 S Broadway, Salem, NH 03079
(603) 893-3667
*Store open 8AM - 8PM

*Pharmacy open 9AM - 8PM (30 minute break, 1:30PM - 2PM)

*Pharmacy CLOSED Saturday

CVS Pharmacy
203 S Broadway, Salem, NH 03079 (located inside of a Target)
(603) 870-0083
*Open Thursday/Friday 10AM - 7PM, Saturday 11AM - 5PM (30 minute break, 1:30PM - 2PM)

Forms/YPP

Acknowledgement Forms:

Please make sure that you have completed all required acknowledgement forms prior to attending the event!

From your Dashboard at www.firstinspires.org, select your name in the upper right and

select ‘Acknowledgement Forms’ to review any incomplete forms.

FIRST Youth Protection:

Safety is at the forefront of FIRST® participation.

The FIRST Youth Protection Program (linked here) provides all participants in FIRST programs with

information, guidelines, and procedures to create a safe environment for our student participants.

The information below contains key components of the FIRST Youth Protection Program that all adults

and youth should be aware of while participating in FIRST programs.

FIRST® Portal for Incident Reporting (Youth Protection Concerns, Medical Incidents, or Other)

FIRST has a zero-tolerance policy regarding retaliation against anyone who reports a concern or who cooperates in an investigation of a reported concern. All submissions to the Reporting Portal are investigated by FIRST with appropriate action taken based on the findings.

Event Volunteer Training

The FIRST Youth Protection page (linked here) provides a number of resources that volunteers should be familiar with before working with youth in our programs. The FIRST Youth Protection Program guide(download here) contains the policies and guidelines that all volunteers and youth participants must adhere to when participating with FIRST. The Youth Protection page also has a link to Youth Protection Training Videos (linked here). This training is intended to enable adults working with FIRST teams to recognize situations that may pose a threat to team member safety and take the actions necessary to prevent and report injuries. We encourage anyone participating with FIRST to take this training to better understand how to protect themselves and our youth participants. The training consists of a series of short videos; each video is no more than 5 minutes, and the entire series can be completed in 40-50 minutes.

Volunteer Screening

All adult event volunteers are required to pass Youth Protection screening.

If you have questions, would like more information, or would like to speak to someone directly, please email safetyfirst@firstinspires.org or call 603-206-2050. You can find more information, training, and guidance at http://www.firstinspires.org/youth-protection.

Profile & Setup

Prior to the Event
Please register with FIRST! All volunteers’ names must be in the FIRST Volunteer Management System (VMS) database prior to the event.

To ensure the best volunteer experience, please ensure the following information in your FIRST Inspires profile is current:

- Preferred names and pronouns can be provided or updated by clicking your name in the upper-right corner of the browser window and clicking "My Profile."

- FIRST alumni information, employer, school, or other affiliations may be provided or updated by clicking your name in the upper-right corner of the browser window, clicking "My Profile," and then navigating to "My Information."

- Dietary restrictions, allergies, and preferred shirt size may be provided or updated by clicking your name in the upper-right corner of the browser window, clicking "My Profile," and then navigating to "Volunteer Information."

Updates about the 2024 NE District Granite State Event will be sent to your inbox closer to the beginning of the event.

Getting Here

Salem High School is located at 44 Geremonty Drive, Salem, NH 03079. Below is a map of the area around the building.

From Boston
From I-93 North, take exit 1 toward NH-28/NH-38/Salem. Follow Rockingham Park Blvd for about a mile and a half and then turn left onto Geremonty Drive. The school should be on your left about half a mile down the road.

From Manchester, NH
Take I-93 South to exit 1 toward NH-28/NH-38/Salem. Follow Rockingham Park Blvd for about a mile and a half and then turn left onto Geremonty Drive. The school should be on your left about half a mile down the road.

From Portsmouth, NH
From I-95 South, take I-495 South to exit 49-50 toward Haverhill/Salem NH. Make a right onto Broadway and follow the road for about 5 miles and then make a left onto Geremonty Drive. The school should be on your right after a third of a mile.

View on Google Maps

Reminders/Other

- Please make sure to check in each day at the Volunteer Check-In table
- Some “on site” rearranging of volunteers may be necessary to fill in critical volunteer positions but
we will try to minimize this
- If someone asks you a question that you cannot answer, please find one of the committee volunteers with a radio who can help
- The bleacher seating is open to the teams; the playing field is only open to field volunteers, media, FIRST personnel, VIPs, and teams
- Safety glasses are required for everyone in the pit area and playing field
- Lost & Found is located at Pit Administration
-There is an on-site machine shop for teams to repair their robots
- Please read through your volunteer info and/or training material if provided
- If you need to remove yourself from the volunteer list, please let us know ASAP so we have time to
backfill your spot

See the "Standard Event Volunteer Checklist" below for a to-do list to ensure that you are prepared for the event!
Stay tuned for updates about the 2025 NE District Granite State Event! They will be sent to your inbox closer to the beginning of the competition.

Volunteer Schedule

Download Volunteer Schedule

About

When: February 28-March 2, 2025
Where: Salem High School (Salem, NH)

About NE FIRST
New England FIRST supports the FIRST® global mission in all six New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NE FIRST provides accessible, innovative robotics programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills. NE FIRST is supported by ingenuityNE, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity incorporated in the State of Connecticut.

About FIRST®
FIRST® is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs. Boosted by a global support system of volunteers, educators, and sponsors that include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, teams operate under a
signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, build, and showcase their achievements during annual challenges. An international not-for-profit organization founded by accomplished inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, FIRST has a proven impact on STEM learning, interest, and skill-building well beyond high school. Alumni of FIRST programs gain access to exclusive scholarships, internships, and other opportunities that create connections and open pathways to a wide variety of careers. Learn more at firstinspires.org.

About the Granite State District Event
This is the eleventh year for the Granite State District Competition. FIRST moved to the FRC “District Model” for New England in 2014, and the Granite State District (GSD) event is one of two that are being held in New Hampshire. This year we will have 37 teams from across the New England district. General information for the district events can be found at the following website: https://www.nefirst.org/district-events.

About Gracious Professionalism
“It's a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended.” - Dr. Woody Flowers

As a FIRST volunteer you have been given the opportunity to take the lead in demonstrating the essence of this most important FIRST tenet.

Who Do I Report To?

Field Volunteers, including Field Assembly/Disassembly & Field Repair/Reset
Report to: Field Supervisor

Referees & Official Scorers
Report to: Head Referee

Judges
Report to: Judge Advisor

Team Queuing Volunteers
Report to: Lead Queuer

Pit Volunteers, including Pit Admin Support & Pit Announcer
Report to: Pit Admin Supervisor

Robot Inspectors
Report to: Lead Robot Inspector

Safety Advisors
Report to: Safety Manager

All Other Volunteers, please report to the Volunteer Coordinators!

Please note:
Names of Volunteer Leads can be found in the volunteer information packet sent to your email. This information is private, and should not be published.