We're in the NEWS!

THANK YOU, LILLIAN LEOPOLD

for your Press Release
that was published in La Prensa on

February 22, 2008 -- Page 3

Sweetwater Students Vie for Honors in Robotics Competition FIRST is a unique varsity sport of the mind Cutting-edge technology comes together with the excitement of a sporting event at the 2008 San Diego Qualcomm Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. The top high school science and engineering student teams in San Diego will be putting their technology creations to the test in hopes of winning $5 million in scholarship funds. Students from the Sweetwater Union High School District will be vying for honors in this unique varsity sport of the mind called FIRST – “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” Winners of the 2007 “Rookie Team Inspiration Award,” Hilltop High will again compete along with a combined team from Eastlake High and Alternative Education. The three-day event takes place March 6 – 8 at the iPayOne Center in San Diego. Spectators are invited to attend daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as students from all three schools put their innovation and engineering talents on display by building robots. Practice rounds will be held Thursday, March 6 with competition running both Friday and Saturday. FIRST and NASA have dubbed this year’s game “Overdrive.” Sweetwater teams received a “kit of parts” containing 200 pounds of sensors, wheels, pneumatic equipment, wiring and hardware. They were given six weeks and limited funds to complete the building process following a common set of rules. The robotics teams have been working feverishly since Jan. 5 to create robots that can race around a track while herding a 7-pound ball. Teams can earn additional points if their robots are able to place the cumbersome 40-inch ball on a 6’5” bridge-like structure in the culminating seconds of the round without having it knocked down by competitors. FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway®~Human Transporter and President of DEKA Research & Development Corporation based in Manchester, New Hampshire. Sixty Sweetwater students will be among the 1200 participants competing for the regional award and a chance to participate at the national competition in Atlanta in April. At all three participating Sweetwater schools, students, mentors and volunteers are engaged in the process of creation and discovery. Funding has come from NASA, Qualcomm, FIRST, AT&T, Otay Ranch, Dynegy and Bartels Electric. Supplies have been donated by Dixieline, Home Depot and Vons. The robotics teams have also received support from the South County Economic Development Council, the Chula Vista City Council as well as many individuals. For more information about FIRST or the 2008 competition, please visit [ http://www.usfirst.org ]http://www.usfirst.org or [ http://regional.sandiegorobotics.com/ ]http://regional.sandiegorobotics.com/

Our Mentor Team 812 "Midnight Mechanics" in the News!

The Opening Bell

Prepared exclusively for
members of
In affiliation with

Today's News for the National Education Association from Newspapers, TV, Radio and the Journals

Teacher praised for classroom activities.

USA Today (2/25, 11D, Elias) reports on Gregory Fisher, an economics and American government teacher at the California Academy of Math and Science, a magnet school where many students "are the children of Asian or Hispanic immigrants. The mission of the academy, nestled on the campus at California State University, is to draw more minorities and women into math and science careers." While "Fisher's students read the usual textbooks and take frequent tests," they are also given, for example, "a simple bracelet-making experiment [which] revealed how tying pay to productivity can boost performance, but a pay structure keyed to quotas can lead workers to produce less." He is also praised for his use of humor and because he "taps into students' creativity as a way to keep them engaged."

I know I comment on articles from the Opening Bell - but I have met some of the students from this school! they are amazing! This group of students formed, "Midnight Mechanics" a Robotics club. They have come to some of our meeting to mentor our students (we are a Rookie team this year).

These students started Team 812 about 6 years ago, with very little adult guidance. Students hold meetings, raise funds, write grants, and build the robot.

Check them out!

http://www.midnightmechanics.org/

The first FIRST Robotics team in San Diego, CA, Team 812 began in the fall of 2001 at The Preuss School UCSD. With the support of UCSD, The Preuss Foundation, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Team 812 embarked upon its first year of competition. Without the aid of a machine shop, the team struggled to build a robot strong enough to withstand the rigors of the 2002 FIRST Competition. Team 812 persisted and in the end were able to produce a great rookie robot, "WAH-HEE-SAH". Though final standings were low at the competition in Los Angeles, Team 812 won the All-Star Rookie Award for its outstanding achievements as a first year team. Team 812 members also chose the name, "The Midnight Mechanics", this first year. The team name came from Team 812's inclination for staying at school till wee hours of the night, working on the robot.

I am very proud to promote this team of aspiring students!

Our Fearless Leader!

Ms. Sandra is truly amazing! Yesterday I met her at the office to lay out the team booklet. Before she could meet with me, she had to get some items to made a “cape” for our team t-shirt. It seems that she had this idea to make our team look a part of the game! Her daughter and she designed a cape to attach to the t-shirts worn by the team members.

After feeling her excitement and listening to her energy! We got to work on the booklet. Putting together the layout – then the cover, sponsor page, financial repost, our team story, etc…Mr. S brings us dinner! He is the greatest, too! At 6:45 pm Mrs. S and I decide to call it quits. Or at least I thought we did – I know I did….

On Sunday, which is suppose to be a day of rest, religion, family....Sandy has her family making team bottoms! This lady is a multi tasker with ten hands! She makes sure everyone is happy; she encourages; compliments constantly; and is the most positive person I have ever met!

FULL THROTTLE TEAM 2599

is very fortunate to have a person heading our team!

EXPO '08

This weekend was the San Diego Schools Expo, where area high teams bring their robot to get pre-judged inspected; share with other teams; help out other teams; and tweak our robots for the competition on March 6 -8, 2008. The media is all over the place on Sunday and on Monday we crate up the robot to be shipped out on Tuesday.
Here are a couple of clips of our robot's practice!

Keep trying !!



And SUCCESS!!

IT RUNS !

Below is a short video from our practice at the warehouse! Our robot runs, but Bernardo and Donovan are still working on the ARM. This is a GREAT machine they have designed and build!

Working on the ARM

will it work??



will it fit????