MontNews.com

Letter to the Editor:

The Scotland School for Veterans’ Children has been closed this current school year by Governor Rendell, due to lack of funding in our states (yet unsettled) budget.

There are two “compromised” bills awaiting review by the House & Senate, to allocate money towards this academic school year.

Gov. Rendell placed his arguments against the state financially supporting this school any longer, citing SSVC wasn’t “educationally adequate”, insofar as academic standards set by the PSSA, therefore mandating the closing of this historical educational institution.

Jean Hartman-Vargas, head of the school’s Union, appealed the Governor’s decision through news and media coverage and has, in hand, the results of the 2008-09 PSSA test scores of the school. In fact, not only did SSVC students achieve all 13 of the 13 “targets/standards” defined by PSSA, it did so in spite of the school being understaffed this particular academic year by Gov. Rendell’s mandated hiring freeze at this institution.

To learn more about this historical school and its importance to our states Dept. of Education system, please visit: www.ssvcalumni.org

I urge everyone to contact our State Representatives to support the immediate re-opening of this school, if not through our State’s undetermined budget, then perhaps by one of the two bills currently ready for review. You may do so by phone, or visit the website, “Write Your Representative Service”, at: www.writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Your voice in these children’s continued education at this historical institution will make a difference in their education…and their future

Atlanta, GA — The FIRST Robotics championship is taking place at the Georgia Dome. Throughout the event, teams will be given the chance to win awards from a wide variety of categories. There are awards for enthusiasm and awards for ingenuity; however, perhaps… there should be a category that combines enthusiasm and ingenuity. When it comes to this type of achievement nothing shows how the kids use their heads better than the hats they wear. What about a medal for ‘off the top of my head engineering’? Or, maybe, the safest, funnest hat? You know, “You might poke someone’s eye out with that hat!”

Ambler, PA — Local robotics teams that made the achievement of qualifying for the world championships are in Atlanta, GA. The Wissahickon High School Team 341 “Miss Daisy” obtained many awards this season including first place at the Western Regionals in San Diego, CA.

Team 341 arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday. On Thursday evening, they attended the third annual “Robo Prom”. The Robo Prom is a great way to experience these fierce competitors off the field. The geeks and nerds trade in their pocket protectors for dress slacks or cocktail dresses. Not only are these some of the smartest kids around, they are also courteous, kind and able to dance. And, no… they don’t all dance the robot

On Friday, the competition begins at the Georgia Dome. NASA is providing a live webcast at robotics.nasa.gov.

NASA's Mobile Webcasting

RELATED ARTICLES
Photo Gallery
FIRST: Driving Miss Daisy to Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia On My (If I Only Had a) Mind
Combating Global Warming Is Child’s Play
Hats Off To Ingenuity

San Diego Sports Arena — The FIRST Robotics regional competition is being held at the San Diego Sports Arena. High school teams from across the country came to Southern California to compete in one of the challenges leading up to the national championships in Atlanta, GA.

We Kick Bot!

It was unusual for the Ambler, PA Wissahickon team to make the trip to the Western Regional. But, there were also teams from Indiana, Colorado and even Brazil. That is just one of the things that makes a FIRST competition so much fun — the flixability to let kids try something different.

This year’s competitive season is based on robots competing in conditions that mimic the moon. Every year on New Years Day weekend, the FIRST orginization releases that season’s rules and regulations. NASA helps design, orginize and officiate. For this season, the floor surface and robot parts are designed to simulate 1/6 the gravity of Earth. Cleverly, the competition is called Lunacy. Normally the robots are not allowed to smash into each other. Not this year. For this season, that rule had to be relaxed due to the lack of friction. It is inevitable that the robots will collide in a crash-up-derby fashion.

The object of the game is scoop up “moon” balls and shoot them into a goal. The goal is actually a trailer being hauled behind the oppositions robot. During the preliminaries, three high schools are randomly paired to form an alliance against three opposing schools.

The schools were given a six week build season. Then, their robots are crated and shipped to the competition location. The students do not get to see their robots until they arrive at the regionals. On the first day, teams are allowed to unpack their robots and conduct practice rounds.

video: robot up-close

Related Articles
What Is FIRST Robotics?
See Humans At Sea World
Robots Take Over the San Diego Sports Arena

Moon Balls