4-H Youth Step Up at FIRST Robotics World Finals

CHEVY CHASE, Md., April 25, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ – Today, National 4-H Council is pleased to announce that 18 4-H Robotics teams will compete at the FIRST Robotics Championship, the world finals for the international FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics organization. The teams will compete among 400 others for the title on April 26-29 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

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The event is the culmination of a six-week build season, where teams designed, engineered and constructed a 120-pound robot that can play basketball in this year’s challenge “Rebound Rumble.” Teams qualified for the finals by winning local and regional competitions throughout the spring, controlling and maneuvering their robots in a high-stakes a 3-on-3 basketball game.

This year’s competition marks a record number of teams representing 4-H’s growing robotics program, nearly doubling the teams who competed in the 2011 world finals. With help from sponsors jcpenney and Lockheed Martin, 4-H has launched a new robotics curriculum and grown 87 robotics teams in cities as varied as Atlanta, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and West Palm Beach. From urban to suburban, 4-H youth in FIRST Robotics come from incredibly diverse backgrounds to unite under a shared passion for engineering.

“We congratulate our incredible 4-H youth who have stepped up to the challenge this season, and devoted their time, energy and talents in the name of great engineering,” said Donald T. Floyd Jr., National 4-H Council president and CEO. “Their incredible success is a testament to 4-H’s targeted efforts to actively  address the nation’s scientific workforce development challenges by expanding our STEM programming, sparking an early youth interest in the sciences and providing an environment where young people can explore the possibilities of pursuing degrees and careers in science.”

In fact, according to a longitudinal study conducted by Tufts University, when compared to their peers, youth in 4-H are two times more likely to excel in science, engineering, technology and applied math, and are more interested in pursuing future science careers.

The 18 teams who will travel to St. Louis to compete in the FIRST Robotics Championship include:

• Air Strike (Team 78- Newport County, Rhode Island)
• GreenVillians (Team 281- Greenville, S.C.)
• Team Thrust (Team 1501- Huntington, Ind.)
• Team EMS (Team 1649- Winter Park, Fla.)
• Exploding Bacon (Team 1902- Windemere, Fla.)
• Apple Pi (Team 2067- Guilford, Conn.)
• The Corps (Team 2164- Harrisonville, Mo.)
• Ninja Monkees (Team 2395- Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• pwnage (Team 2949- Batavia, Ill.)
• Prototype X (Team 3230- Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Rogue Robots of 4-H (3585- Charlestown, N.H.)
• Hard Botties (Team 3634- Bridgeport, Conn.)
• Bit by Bit 4-H (Team 3784- Verona, Mo.)
• SUITS (Team 3951- Honeoye, N.Y. )
• RoboKronos (Team 4203- Oneonta, N.Y.)
• 4-H Techno Clovers (Team 4240- Accident, Md.)
• SEMO (Team 4356- Chaffee, Mo.)
• TechnoTornadoes (FLL Team from Idaho)

About 4-H:

4-H is a community of six million young people across America learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within USDA. 4-H programs are implemented by the 111 land-grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System through their 3,100 local Extension offices across the country. Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H.

Related Link: National 4-H Council’s Website

SOURCE 4-H

Joba Chamberlain: Bad Bounce Raises Interesting Question

So what could possibly be wrong with a friendly game of 3-on-3 basketball? How about a Playstation 2 marathon featuring several Guitar Hero solos, or a relaxing jaunt to the country for a little fishing? Anyone see a problem with grabbing some artificial rays in a tanning bed or unwrapping that new DVD you’ve been dying to watch?

What about bouncing around mindlessly on a trampoline?

It all sounds like good, harmless fun—quality leisure time sure to take the edge off a beleaguered nine-to-fiver after a long week of work. Yes, all good, except if your work happens to earn you millions of dollars a year, and your ability to earn those millions is predicated on your physical well being.

Then, when the basketball game results in a torn ACL, the Playstation escapade leads to wrist strain, reeling in the big one causes a shoulder separation, the tanning that was supposed to be therapeutic goes awry and causes severe burns, wrestling with that pesky DVD packaging causes a freakish scissor mishap and of course, bouncing on your trampoline with your kids not only destroys your ankle but quite possibly your livelihood as well, it ain’t so funny anymore.

You remember what mama used to say: “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.”

Joba Chamberlain’s unfortunate trampoline calamity has left a gaping hole in the Yankees bullpen. The Bronx Bombers will have to find a way to fill the void created by Chamberlain’s absence. But more importantly, this latest incident has once again thrown a spotlight on the off-field exploits of professional athletes, particularly baseball players.

It seems as though an inordinate number of these aberrant occurrences involve our boys of summer. I’m not quite sure if there is a scientific reason for that or not, but the record certainly would suggest that it warrants some scrutiny.

Names like Aaron Boone, Joel Zumaya, Larry Walker, Marty Cordova and Adam Eaton all conjure unfortunate recollections of off-field indiscretions which resulted in professional misfortune—not to mention more than just a modicum of embarrassment for both them and their respective teams.

Now we can add Chamberlain’s name to the ignominious list. The members of this dubious club seems to keep growing—not at an alarming rate by any means—but I have an inkling that there exists in the annals of private baseball lore an array of transgressions of which we have no formal knowledge.

But what does prevail, without speculation or conjecture, is one very glaring and equally ominous question: Who will be next?

While many would argue that professional athletes certainly have the right to lead conventional lives off the field, including all of the frivolity and oftentimes dangerous leisure activity in which all of us common folk engage.

Perhaps that’s not the case. Perhaps there needs to be an understanding or agreement—more formal than tacit—that professional athletes are not like the rest of us and, consequently, need to be more cognizant of the reality that their actions outside of the professional arena have serious consequences that affect not only them but others as well.

I’m sure that some attorneys and civil liberties enthusiasts would take umbrage at such a suggestion, but the truth of the matter is that when a professional athlete makes the decision to go off-roading in the Outback or hang gliding near the Makapuu Cliffs, he takes with him the immediate fortunes of his teammates and the hopes and dreams of a legion of worshipers who are relying on him to help bring the team of which he is part to the promised land.

Perhaps it needs to be more than just an agreement.

Maybe it should be compulsory language written into every professional athlete’s contract. An injury of this sort, as infrequent as it might be, precludes an athlete’s ability to perform the job for which he is being compensated quite nicely and is a direct threat to the success of that athlete’s organization. Does that sound unreasonable?

Fascist? Perhaps. 

All I know is that if there were millions of people waiting with breathless anticipation, clamoring for my next novel or article and I lost a couple of fingers on my typing hand feeding turtles on the Galapagos Islands, I would feel just a little responsible.

What do you think?

For more visit my book blog on Goodreads and www.franknappi.com

3-on-3 basketball exhibition game

Wu Chun and Erwin Velez warming up for the upcoming exhibition game. – PHOTO COURTESY OF
KFC

A KFC team will be playing against a Fitness Zone team in an exhibition game at 9pm on Sunday, March
25, inside The Airport Mall.

As a follow-up on the KFC Fitness Zone three-on-three Street basketball challenge, there will be a special
treat for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) from the open and student categories and also for the winning
team of the Family Bucket Challenge on top of the prizes previously mentioned.

The MVP from both categories gets to play in a three-on-three exhibition game as part of the closing event
of the three-on-three basketball challenge in a race to reach 10 points to win.

The MVP of the open category will pair up with the Fitness Zone team led by Wu Chun and will play
against the KFC team, which comprises the MVP of the student category and will be led by ex-PBA player
Erwin Velez.

The MVP selection is based on points scored personally and the assist that the player gives to his
teammates to make a score.

The winning team of the Family Bucket Challenge will also get a copy of a DVD movie starring Wu Chun,
and it will be personally autographed by him.

In the Family Bucket Challenge, the first of its kind in Brunei, participants can enter as a team of three (one
male adult, one female adult and one minor below the age of 18) and challenge against other teams in a
shootout within a given time limit of one minute.

The Family Bucket Challenge is an idea brought together by KFC and Wu Chun.

We came out with the name and Wu Chun came up with the mechanics of the game, said Jonathan Bong.

The idea of this game is to bring the family together. Wu Chun and Jonathan concluded, “You don’t have to
be good in basketball to enjoy good family times.”

Participants who join the Family Bucket Challenge will also be given a basic training on March 18 at
Fitness Zone at 2pm.

The open category and the student category will see 30 teams each participating.

Twenty teams will participate in the Family Bucket Challenge. Participants can obtain the entry forms from
both KFC and Fitness Zone outlets.

Bring back the entry forms and register at any KFC or Fitness Zone outlets before the closing date of March
20.

To find out more, interested participants can call the hotline at 2345999 during office hours.

Lindbergh’s All District Faculty Night Basketball Game

Lindbergh’s All District Faculty Night Basketball Game

Join the family fun and support two worthwhile causes at Lindbergh’s All District Faculty Night Basketball Game, Friday, March 9, at 6:15 p.m., in Lindbergh High School (LHS) Gym 3, 5000 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Tickets are $3 for adults and $2 for children, with all proceeds benefitting Project Graduation 2012.The evening begins with a district-wide elementary school Hula Hoop Talent Show at 6:15 p.m. Then, LHS faculty will challenge middle-school faculty to an old-fashioned hoops contest, including a basketball shoot-out between LHS 12th grade Principal Stella Viehland and middle-school principals. In addition, elementary-school principals will compete in a “Minute to Win It” competition and fans will enjoy performances by the senior boys, LHS varsity cheerleaders, elementary cheerleaders and the a cappella choir. Enter a raffle for a chance to win a boy’s or girl’s bike, computer monitor, or Lindbergh and entertainment prizes!Following the game, LHS Student Council will host a Lindbergh vs. Childhood Cancer 3-on-3 basketball tournament and head-shaving event to benefit St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

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6th annual event remembers late Gavilan Peak student

MARC BUCKHOUT ~ MANAGING EDITOR~ 3/7/2012

Its coming up on six years since Avian Allen passed away, but each year Gavilan Peak physical education instructor Jeff Kalk takes time to remind his current students about what he described as both a, “good kid and a good athlete.”
The 6th annual Gavilan Peak staff/student basketball game, set for 6:30 p.m., Friday at Boulder Creek High School will celebrate the life of Allen, who passed away after suffering a severe asthma attack after playing basketball at the Anthem Community Center.
The event isn’t limited to the basketball game, as the day gets under way at 3:30 p.m. with a 3-on-3 basketball tournament with divisions for 5th/6th graders, 7th/8th graders, women and a men’s event. Cost to compete is $15 per team. Entry forms are available at gavilanpeak.dvusd.org.
Beyond the basketball there will be a variety of booths set up, bounce houses for children and a DJ playing music.
“In years past we’ve got thousands to turn out for the event,” Kalk said.
Raffles and silent auctions will also take place, with proceeds going to aid We Care in Anthem. The nonprofit charitable organization helps seriously ill children and their families.
A portion of the proceeds also will aid the Gavilan Peak’s technology department.
Kalk, who said the best year saw the event raise $6,000 and had more than $4,000 raised two years ago is hopeful of a strong turnout.
“We talk about it with our students a couple weeks before the event,” he said. “We want to keep her memory alive and when they hear her story it really focus them. I think it hits home, because she was so young, just like they are.”
Boulder Creek High School is located at 40404 North Gavilan Peak Parkway in Anthem.

Lindbergh’s All-District Basketball Night March 9

03/02/2012 – Join the family fun and support two worthwhile causes at Lindbergh’s All District Faculty Night Basketball Game, Friday, March 9, at 6:15 p.m., in Lindbergh High School (LHS) Gym 3, 5000 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Tickets are $3 for adults and $2 for children, with all proceeds benefitting Project Graduation 2012.

The evening begins with a district-wide elementary school Hula Hoop Talent Show at 6:15 p.m. Then, LHS faculty will challenge middle-school faculty to an old-fashioned hoops contest, including a basketball shoot-out between LHS 12th grade Principal Stella Viehland and middle-school principals.

In addition, elementary-school principals will compete in a “Minute to Win It” competition and fans will enjoy performances by the senior boys, LHS varsity cheerleaders, elementary cheerleaders and the a cappella choir.

Following the game, LHS Student Council will host a Lindbergh vs. Childhood Cancer 3-on-3 basketball tournament and head-shaving event to benefit St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

Barksdale’s fundraiser weekend begins today

HUDSON — NFL veteran and current Kansas City Command defensive back Rashad Barksdale is hosting the second annual Run This Town charity basketball tournament at Hudson High School this weekend.

Barksdale is expecting to kick off the weekend at Shop Rite in Hudson, where he will be meet fans and sign autographs today from 2 to 3 p.m. Fellow NFL stars Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Dion Lewis, both of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Baltimore Ravens’ Bernard Pollard, plan on joining Barksdale at the Boys and Girls Club in Hudson around 4 p.m. to sign autographs.

Later in the evening, the group is scheduled to compete in a celebrity basketball game at Hudson High School, where they will be joined by former Bluehawks football standout and Section II Hall of Famer Leroy Collins, as well as other friends of Barksdale.

Hudson Mayor William Hallenbeck is slated to conduct the tip-off for the celebrity game at 7 p.m. and a slam dunk contest will be featured at halftime.

On Saturday morning, Barksdale hosts the second edition of his 3-on-3 basketball tournament with youth games beginning at 9 a.m. and adults taking the court at 11 a.m. Team registrations are still open and will continue to be accepted up until a half hour before the respective divisions take the court.

All proceeds go to Barksdale’s charity “It’s Okay To Dream,” which benefits area students and youth programs.

“Giving back is a privilege and I am fortunate enough to be in a position to do so,” the University at Albany alumnus said. “There is nothing like it and I really enjoy doing anything I can. This is going to be a great event and some great professional athletes are coming out to be a part of it.

“I am looking to expand the charity and may do a run or breast cancer awareness fundraiser, but this is my primary event,” Barksdale added, noting that he is finalizing another deal with Applebees in Hudson where fans who bring the event flier to the restaurant will have a portion of their bill donated to the foundation.

The Hudson native spent time playing with the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals. He currently has a starting role with the Command in the Arena League.

Last season, Barksdale ranked second on the team in tackles with 81.5, even though he joined the team part of the way through the season.

— Celebrity Team Rosters

(Subject to change)

Team Barksdale

Rashad Barksdale

Bernard Pollard

J.B. Brantley

Talib Barksdale

Darren Collins

Zach Halloran

Gary Dempsey

Lucious Jordan

C.J. Tarver

Art Brantley

Vincent Henningway

Team Celeb

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

Dion Lewis

Leroy Collins

Isiah Heard

Ryan Legere

Matt Hover

Lyle Hughes

Barry King

Pete Balich

Travis VanAlstyne

Girard robotics team preparing for 3-on-3 basketball game

GIRARD, Ohio – Some students at a Trumbull County high school are preparing for a big basketball game, but they won’t be the ones out on the court playing.

The Girard High School Robotics Team is putting the final touches on their robot for upcoming competitions in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.

In this year’s competition the robots will be playing a form of three on three basketball.

The students have spent the last six weeks designing, programming, and building their robot.

“You’re constantly teaching theories and different ideas and this is a way they get real life experience, hands on experience. They can actually take what they’re learning in the classroom, whether it’s math calculus stuff like that and apply it in a real life situation,” said Ashral Hadl, Robotics Team Advisor.

The team’s goal is to win at least one of the regional competitions so they can go on to nationals in St. Louis.

Robotics teams are gearing up

ESCANABA – Two local high school robotics teams are working diligently on their robot designs for a competition to be held downstate next month.

Escanaba High School’s Robomos is in its second year of existence, having competed in two downstate For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology competitions for the first time last year.

According to Robomos coach and science teacher Marie Young, the Robomos consist of approximately 30 members this year, and is divided into a number of specific groups focusing on various aspects. They include promoting and fundraising, website design, and building the robot itself – which entails programming and wiring the robot. Each FIRST robotics team must compete in two qualifying competitions in order to advance to later stages.

“There are five weeks of competitions and each team needs to attend two to qualify for states,” explained Young. “And it’s not a given that you qualify. You have to have enough points between those two competitions.”

This year the Robomos, along with Gladstone’s FIRST Robotics team, will compete in Traverse City in March before heading to downstate Niles to compete. Until then, each robotics team has six weeks to build a robot from scratch. FIRST supplies each team with a kit of items to build their robots, but the kits only include items such as batteries, screws, motors, some computer software – not everything needed to fully complete the robot, said Young. Rookie teams receive a bigger supply kit than teams who have competed before, but the repeat teams are able to recycle parts from their previous robots.

The theme for this year’s FIRST competition is “Rebound Rumble,” based on a basketball game concept, with an added component of having to balance on a bridge, said Young.

“There’s different parts to the game and the trick is to try to create a robot that’s good at each one of those parts of the game,” she said.

Some things they need to keep in mind when building the robot include how to shoot and pick up the balls, and how to get the robot on the bridge as well as how to balance it on the bridge.

This year marks Gladstone’s debut in the competition, as they decided to put their 30-member team together in the last couple months, according to their coach and science teacher Tim Barron.

“It’s been in existence for around 20 years,” said Barron, of the FIRST program. “This is our first year here of doing it. It sounded cool over the years, like it would be fun to do, but I was too busy to take it on, and decided to try it this year.”

Barron said there is a lot that goes into creating the robot, such as putting together the chassis, which is basically the frame of the robot with the wheels and the motors, in addition to wiring and programming it. But once students start putting the robot together and getting it to gradually work, one step at a time, it is a rewarding experience.

“The good thing about it is you line up a lot of adult mentors from the area,” he explained, as engineers from NewPage, EMP, and even parents, have come in to lend their assistance.

“We’ve appointed a student president, and we’ve got it divided up into committees, we call them, to get all these various jobs done,” explained Barron.

Barron expresses his thanks to J.C. Penney, the major sponsor for Gladstone’s team this year, and noted other businesses and organizations are helping to offset costs for additional robot parts needed and toward the expenses for the competition itself.

The Robomos’ major sponsor is EMP, Young said, with representatives from the company serving as mentors and working hands-on with the group. However, she noted there are a number of community sponsors who have provided them with materials, mentoring or supplying funding, since the program can get costly when factoring in travel costs and purchasing additional parts for the robot. A list of local sponsors is being collected at this point, she noted.

“It’s truly an investment for community businesses and so forth to see the high school kids here get this type of a hands-on experience. It’s just huge,” she said.

After six weeks of working on their robot all teams have to “bag and tag” their robots at midnight on Feb. 21, which means they must all stop working on them at this time. Once their first competition is over, they also have to bag their robot before the next competition, giving them only six hours during the week of the following competition to fix any problems they faced with their robots the first time around. This is where having a big budget and many sponsors comes into play, as some schools create two robots so they can work on one while the other is bagged.

Some ways the Robomos are raising funds for their group include a 3-on-3 basketball tournament later this month, as well as selling energy efficient light bulbs, wristbands, and planning a golf tournament.

As for the future of robotics in the area, Young said Escanaba is planning to host a competition next year. They wanted to host one this year, but could not get it to work out, he added.

“There isn’t really any held in the U.P. whatsoever because it’s sort of a growing thing now in the U.P.,” said Young. “Gladstone’s in their first year, Marquette had their first year last year along with us …That would be great to have one in Escanaba, so that’s our intention and our plan is to actually have one here next year.”

Approximately 2,400 teams are expected to participate in the FIRST competitions this year. The purpose of FIRST is “to help high school-aged young people discover how interesting and rewarding the lives of engineers and scientists can be,” according to an overview of the competition.

For more information on either robotics teams, contact Escanaba or Gladstone high schools. The Robomos’ website is located at www.wix.com/eskystudentcouncil/robomos.

Students camp out for basketball tickets

On Friday night, hundreds of students pitched tents, grabbed their umbrellas, put on their rain boots, and headed to Reynolds where they stayed up all night waiting to receive a guaranteed ticket for the upcoming State-UNC basketball game.

Though it was 48 degrees and raining, students showed their Pack pride in various ways, some by dressing up.

At the Campout event there were five checkpoints, of which students had to complete four. Throughout the evening, students could be heard chanting “check point” to stay awake and get excited.

“I checked in at 7:45 and then went inside where it was warm,” said Keeshan Ganatra, a senior in communications. “It is my first year camping out. I haven’t decided if I’m going to stay up or not. I usually sleep well in the rain.”

Students were able to bring their own camping equipment, but the University also offered rentals. Many students, however, chose to spend the night outside of their tents, talking in the rain with other fans.

Ganatra, who had not realized how much time had passed when he was interviewed at 12:30, was leaving to get food at one of the vendors that stayed open until 2 a.m. for the event.

Making an appearance at the Campout site were Coach Mark Gottfried and various players, including Jay Lewish and Alex Johnson.

While waiting for tickets, student fans enjoyed a 3-on-3 basketball tournament and board games provided by the Union Activities Board.

Hunter Lohr, freshman in engineering, said he enjoyed his first Campout experience.

“All the tents are really cool. It’s definitely worth being here, even in the bad weather,” Lohr said.

Lohr said that among the night’s events, check-in was the worst part.

“Standing in the rain for check-in was annoying, but now that everyone is here it’s just cool,” Lohr said.

With him was Scott Paiement, sophomore in mathematics.

“Camping out for basketball tickets is awesome,” Paiement said. “This is what college life is like. We’re living the dream.”

Though standing in the rain is some students’ example of “living the dream,” others prefer to watch the game on TV, which they can do on February 1 at 8 p.m. For those students who did stay up all night for tickets, the game will be in the RBC Center.

State will play at UNC Jan. 26 before playing the Heels on Tuesday in late February. The last time N.C. State beat UNC at home was Feb. 3, 2007.

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