Saturday, December 09, 2006

My Roboticists


My students have done it again! My four teams of budding roboticists stepped up to the Lego Robotics challenge and did simply amazing work.

There was nervousness. There was tension. There were failures and there were triumphs. In the end, every team got more and more out of their robots and performed well in all four areas of judging (technical [programming & engineering], research [nanotechnology], teamwork, and robot performance).

Two teams won trophies: First Place: Robot Performance, and Runner Director’s Choice.

The Director’s Choice trophy comes with it the prestigious, coveted, long-dreamed of invitation to move their team on to the next level of competition: The State Tournament on January 13th!

I am very pleased with the hard work that these students have done in preparing exceptional research presentations, engineering designs which accomplished so much, and working hard as teams.

Congratulations roboticists!

There were a lot of challenges here. Two of these students I have mentioned before. They all grew a little today and it was a very good thing to watch.

I'm tempted to post pics (they all did sign permission forms), but it just doesn't feel right to do it here (this post already moves quite a bit across the line from personal to professional). So just imagine two photos: a huge group of twenty kids who were able to make it today, and then a picture of a half dozen kids with a trophy held high and huge grins because they are moving on to the next level.

Perhaps this will help:



Well... this post is well past pithy (more like blunt). It does not contain much of the theological, the philosophical, the scientific, or the literary... but it is something sweet none the less!

I love my job!


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to them and you!

As far as being theological, philosophical, scientific, or literary, that is for you to decide.

Your blog is for you, not us. You give us much, but never forget, owe us nothing. If we expect too much from you and you don't conform to our wants, boo-hoo.

You should be able to love your job, be proud of your accomplishments, write about it and not worry if the story of it is entertaining enough for the masses.

I know you feel a certain obligation to your readers. That is noble. But being true to yourself and feeling free to speak and write your hearts words is more so.

Now wipe that silly grin off your face and get some sleep:-)

J.

jel said...

WOO HOO!

WAy too go BOYs!!!!!

Anonymous said...

pithy is good :)

Jim said...

Congratulations Guys! ['Guys' includes male and female in my vocabulary.]

Congratulations C.S!

Pithy? I had to look that word up
[http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/pithy].

Now I can say there's plenty of pith there for me, it about youse guy's--and not just the winners-- accomplishments!
Well done.
..

Fred said...

Congrats to your students, CS. They look quite happy, too. Such bright smiles!

Curious Servant said...

Thanks all! Pithy means "to the point" and I felt I had gone too far for it to be called that. That is why those safari hats were called "pith helmets" because early ones had a point on top.

Since I am wandering off topic, I might as well give y'all another uncommon word:

petrichor (PET-ri-kuhr) noun

The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell.

[From petro- (rock), from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is
supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology).

I can also add that the smell is caused by the oils of plants that have built up on the soil and rock.

Some of my friends tell me that I am a wealth of useless knowledge!

Maripat said...

Aw, congrats. You don't hear many stories like this.

M

Anonymous said...

How awesome! Congrats to you and your students!

Jada's Gigi said...

Congratulations to you and your teams!! Way to Go!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to you coach!

Ame said...

i absolutely LOVE this!!! it's all over my head - i am so impressed those young "boys" can do things like that!!!