GPUSA Championship Weekend Update 2

If you didn't see the other newsletter that was sent out, you can check it out by clicking on the button below.

Celebrate the achievements of your favorite Greenpower student or team by purchasing a “Brag Banner” to be hung on the fences for Nationals at Talladega this year. The “Brag Banners” are 2ft x 3ft. Individual student banners are $50 and team banners are $75. Please complete the following information and submit all information to: orders@greenpowerusa.net by May 5th.

We still have 93 teams that haven't verified information for this event! Below is a button that is linked to a Google Sheet showing all the information for every team currently registered. Please follow the instructions on the sheet to the best of your ability. If you need further support, please send me a message.

Many teams have asked about conflicting information on when these videos are due. All Goblin Video Submissions must be turned in by April 30th. With 50 teams submitting videos, we want to make sure we give the judges adequate time to score all of them prior to the event.

Middle School teams will only do LIVE INTERVIEWS.

High School and F24+ will do both LIVE INTERVIEWS AND POSTER SESSIONS.

Signups for interview slots and Poster Sessions will go out Tuesday, April 21st around 930 AM CST.

Last year, we held Live Interviews for the High School and Collegiate teams. Based on what we saw and heard from teams last year, this was an amazing presentation component. That is why we decided to implement this into the event this year. Many coaches have asked for some tips on how to approach this interview with their students. Below is a few items that may help you prepare for your team's interview.

1. Just like most interactions, first impressions are key! We aren't asking you and your team to show up polished and well dressed. Come as you are at the event. Last year, we had a student come from Pit Road after getting covered in grease and had smear stains all over his shirt. It was one of the best interviews of the day according to the judges. What made it special was the conversation between the students and the judges. Bring an engaging attitude to the interview. Keep the conversation easily flowing. It is easy to be nervous but remember - these judges are here to listen to what you have to say!
2. During the 1-Minute Intro, make sure you are taking all this time to introduce yourselves to the judges. Don't just come in and say "Hi I'm Drew and I am with Greenpower USA" and then wait for the judges to respond. You have a minute...use it. You get to start the conversation. Be mindful of your time though...don't draw it out and go over your minute.
3. After the Intro, you will spend the next 3-minutes(ish) answering a question from each category in the rubric. You can either have all your participants prepared to answer all the questions, or have the questions divided up amongst your group. Have different people on hand to take LEAD on any question asked. If that person freezes up, make sure someone else can easily jump in and help out.
4. During the entire interview, your students are only allowed to bring a notecard as outlined in the rubric. Do not bring in anything else (3D printed parts, brochures, etc.). If you want to show off some of those things, invite the judges to stop by your Pit Tent later in the day.
5. All interviews will be recorded and available after the event has concluded.

This year we are adding the Poster Session to the F24 Advanced and F24+ National Championship teams. This is to help prepare students for these structures in college. This was first published in the Rubric used during the Fall 2025 Races.

There will be two different time slots on Friday Only for teams to showcase their Posters: Session 1 is from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM and Session 2 is from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM. We will be prepared to give ourselves an afternoon option depending on how things go in the morning.

Below are some things to consider for your team's poster session submission.

• The two students for your poster session can be students who also participated in the interview. Just make sure you don't sign up for conflicting times.
• Just like the interview try to make the presentation of your poster engaging both visually and with the spoken portion from the students.

Teams competing in the Race Division category will NOT have to submit a presentation of any time for this event. We will only be using your Race Results in final scoring.