January 8, 2009

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Almaden Country School students take first in robotics tournament

Can learning about climate change with robots help solve the world’s problems?

FIRST founder Dean Kamen thinks so. By inspiring 135,000 children ages 9 to 14 to participate in science and technology, these students will develop the creative problem-solving skills needed to face tomorrow’s challenges.
Almaden Country School fielded several FIRST Lego League Robotics teams. One of those teams is called Heavy Mental and consists of team members Gavin Drucker, Bryan Herr, Elizabeth Panella, Haley Weiner, and Andy Walsh who are all seventh grade students at Almaden Country School.

Competing against a field of 36 teams, Heavy Mental took the two highest possible awards at the Camden Qualifier tournament Dec. 13, including first place tournament champion, best all-around team: high robot games scores, excellent teamwork, strong building and programming skills, thoughtful and creative presentation and research project as well as first place robotic games award or high score in the robot games playoffs of the eight highest scoring teams.

The Heavy Mental team’s high score in the competition was 290 points out of a possible 400 points, which is the second highest score that any team achieved in all 12 of the qualifier competitions in the state of California.

“FIRST Lego League (FLL) is an organization that focuses on real world applications of science and math concepts & technology, with hands on problem solving and a research project,” according to the FLL Web site. In September, the First Lego League announced this year’s challenge – “Climate Connections.” The competition includes building and programming an autonomous robot and conducting an original research project, with additional emphasis placed on teamwork.

The robot games component of the challenge involves building a robot and programming it to autonomously accomplish up to 20 different tasks within two and a half minutes. Each task is assigned a point value and at the end of the allotted time, judges tally the points for all tasks that the team’s robot was able to complete.

The robots are built completely out of Lego parts. No customization is allowed. Teams program the Lego Mindstorms NXT “computer brick” to control motors and sensors in order to position the robot, deliver objects, retrieve objects and act on objects.

In order to accomplish this year’s challenge, teams had to analyze their tasks, build and test their prototypes, then assess and refine their programs. This process was both a hardware process (the actual Lego parts and how they were put together) as well as a software process (the programming of the robot).

When asked how the team worked together for this challenge, team member Gavin Drucker answered, “We each know our strengths and apply ourselves when we run into an obstacle. We consolidated eight programs down to four programs and were able to more effectively get the robot to complete most of the challenges. We work well together.”

For most people, the challenge of simply getting a robot built and working would be more than enough. But for FLL competitors, they must also conduct a research project. This year’s topic for the research project was quite broad; Identify a problem caused by climate change, create an innovative solution based on the team’s research and share that research and solution with others.

The Heavy Mental team reached out to the community by making a Web site describing the problem of rising sea levels caused by global warming and their concept to use a system of desalination and reservoirs to bring down the sea level and at the same time provide needed fresh water. Through their research, the team ultimately concluded that their plan would probably not work since, as they put it, “If you took an inch of water off the ocean and put it in a pool as big as the United States, it would be 50 inches high. So it is virtually impossible to desalinate enough water to make a big difference.”

You can view their Web site at www.heavymentalfll.com. All of the team members contributed to development of the Web site, including one student who wrote the html code for the site.

Advancement at FLL Qualifier tournaments is based on performance in four areas, equally weighted: Robot Games, Teamwork, Robot Design (building and programming these autonomous robots) and Research Project & Presentation.

There were 12 qualifier tournaments in northern California. The Almaden Country School students are one of the teams who will represent San Jose at the Northern California championship tournament in Newark Event Center on Jan. 25.

San Jose Christian School hosting two January events

SJCS will be hosting two community events in January. The first is a series of speakers and the second an eWaste/recycle day.

The January Series is an award-winning speaker series, which begins on Jan.7 and continues on weekdays through Jan. 27. It is put on by Calvin College that can be found at the school Web site at ww.sjchristian.org.

These lectures discuss topics that range from Creation and Design, AIDS and Africa, Faith and Doubt, Health and the Environment and so much more by top experts in their fields. The experts include John Witte, Jr., John Ortberg, Sandra Steingraber, Victor Makari, Deborah and Loren Haarsma, Richard Norton Smith, Helen Epstein, Robert Rooy, Harold Dean Trulear, D. Michael Lindsay, Christine Brennan, David Kinnaman, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Xavier Davis Trio and Sharon Cohn Wu.

A look at the SJUSD’s budget update

By Leslie Reynolds
President, SJUSD Board of Education and Santa Clara County School Boards Association
Special to the Times

The state of California is in historic financial dire straits, forcing us to make some serious decisions about how the diminished dollars get spent.

Over half of all school districts in California will be financially upside down before summer with the kind of budget being discussed in Sacramento. Your superintendent and school board members in San Jose Unified have been very careful and conservative with the finances in our care over these past four years, and unlike many districts here in Santa Clara County, we have been able to keep the cuts as far away from the classroom as possible, and maintain a positive credit rating from the county.

We have an excellent chief business officer and financial team in our district, which will help us navigate these challenging times. Because of our strong team and personal commitment by your superintendent and school board, we will continue to work closely with our employees to reach a reasonable set of compromises that will ensure we continue to maintain the best possible education for your children.

Your school board members work directly with the legislators at both the state and federal level, to help them understand the classroom impacts their actions have. Do not be deceived into believing that school board members are getting rich while other employees suffer salary cuts. The fact of the matter is, all five of our board’s annual stipends put together do not even equal half of the salary of a tenured teacher! All five of your school board members do this job out of pure love and commitment to the children of this district.

Your board welcomes your input so please continue to communicate with us about your thoughts and concerns along with contacting your legislators. While the financial picture is far from pretty, you can be sure that your board and superintendent are working diligently on solutions that will benefit your children. Now more than ever, let’s stick together to make sure we reach a positive outcome for the kids!

California Youth Symphony joins others to benefit homeless youth

The award-winning California Youth Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Leo Eylar, is one of six Bay Area youth orchestras who will collaborate to present the first-ever Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. in Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. This “Bay of Hope” gala concert will raise funds for six local charities that serve the needs of homeless youth.

Also participating in the historic event are the Oakland Youth Orchestra, the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, the Sacramento Youth Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra.

The California Youth Symphony will open the program with Antonin Dvorák’s Carneval Overture. Also featured will be works of Malcolm Arnold, Gwyneth Walker, Paul Hindemith, Richard Wagner, and Dmitri Shostakovich, each performed by a different youth orchestra. The concert’s finale, the Shostakovich Festive Overture, will be played by an ensemble of selected musicians from all six orchestras.

“The idea for this festival arose at a state-wide youth orchestra conference last spring. It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to show the public the amazing young musical talent in the Bay Area while at the same time providing badly needed assistance for programs serving homeless youth,” said symphony executive director Jim Hogan.

Eylar celebrates his 19th season this year as music director of the California Youth Symphony. He has earned an outstanding reputation, both at home and abroad, for his spirited conducting and articulate musical interpretations with CYS, the San Jose Symphony, and as a guest with several prominent international orchestras. He teaches and conducts at California State University, Sacramento. A composer of international acclaim, his works have been performed throughout Europe and North America, and his Dance Suite for Trumpet and String Orchestra was recorded by the Seattle Symphony.

Since its founding in 1952, the California Youth Symphony has grown to include two full symphony orchestras – the California Youth Symphony Orchestra and the CYS Associate Orchestra – as well as six ensembles for younger musicians. This season’s CYS membership numbers close to 500 of the most promising young musicians ranging in age from 9 to 18 from throughout the Bay Area and representing more than 100 different schools between San Francisco and Morgan Hill. Members are chosen at auditions held each spring.

Admission to the “Bay of Hope” Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival concert is $65 (center loge - reserved), $30 general admission, and $15 students and seniors. Tickets are available through City Box Office, (415) 392-4400 and www.cityboxoffice.com. Additional information about the California Youth Symphony is available by calling the CYS office at (650) 325-6666 and on the CYS website: www.cys.org.

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