Mini-Project: Assemble a Bulletproof Documentation Form

The Documentation Form is optional, but FIRST changed how it is handled for 2026: 'We have moved the optional Documentation Form from something teams bring to the event to something that is entered with the submission. This season, the only way to submit a documentation form is through this portal as part of the submission (similar to the video).' So this is now a deliverable you assemble in advance, not something you hand a judge at the interview. This project turns your tracker into that packet.

Step 1 — Map tracker rows to the form's columns. The official form chart (downloadable as a PDF and as an editable Word doc) has these columns:

Team Number or Type of Activity & Location | Date of Activity (i.e. Fall 2024) | Choose one of the Official FIRST Impact Award Definitions | Type of Documentation (letter, screenshot, photo, thank you card, etc) | Documentation ID (use numerical numbers i.e. ID-001)

Your tracker already holds all of this. Export the in-window rows (the 3-year filter) and paste them in, one row per piece of evidence.

Step 2 — Honor the rules. The form's instructions are explicit: 'Please only turn in documentation for activities within the past 3 years,' and 'Label each piece of documentation with a "documentation ID". Attach the pieces of documentation to this form, in order of Documentation ID, and be sure to label each with its document id.' So your evidence must be ordered ID-001, ID-002, ID-003... matching the chart exactly.

Step 3 — Build the evidence packet. Create a folder, name every file by its Doc ID (ID-001 thank-you-card.png, ID-002 grant-letter.pdf), then combine into one ordered PDF with the filled form chart as page 1. On macOS, Preview lets you drag pages into order; with command-line tools you can run pdfunite ID-001.pdf ID-002.pdf ... evidence-packet.pdf (from poppler) or use any merge tool.

Step 4 — Pick high-signal evidence. The form lists examples: 'letter, screenshot, photo, thank you card.' The strongest items are third-party and unsolicited: a thank-you letter from a partner school, a grant award letter, a newspaper clipping, a government proclamation. The Definitions reinforce this — for Reach, 'Documented evidence and breakdowns of Reach numbers are far more compelling than simply stating the team's estimated Reach.' A screenshot of your own Instagram is weak; a letter from the principal naming your program is strong. Choose breadth across the definition terms so the packet proves you Started, Mentored, Host, Supported, Reached, and Advocated.

Step 5 — Follow the portal's submission method. Because the form is now entered through the submission portal (like the video), follow whatever upload/link mechanism the Dashboard provides. If you host a PDF, set sharing to 'anyone with the link' and test it in an incognito window to confirm it opens without a login — a permission-locked link is a wasted artifact.

Quality bar from a winner. Team 5985 publishes a public, ID-labeled documentation summary sheet — proof that a clean, navigable packet is part of a championship submission, not an afterthought.

Deliverable: a one-PDF documentation packet, chart on page 1, evidence ordered by Doc ID, ready to enter through the portal. Build it in February, not the night before the deadline.