Whitney High School Robotics Teams will represent Los Angeles County
in two world championship events
More than 100,000 middle-school students in 38 countries competed
to help solve the world’s energy problems. 7th and 8th Grade students
from Whitney High School, will represent Los Angeles at the World Festival in April.
Cerritos, CA, January 28, 2008 – LeRoy Nelson, organizer of the Los Angeles Regional FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) Championship, announced, "The Champion's Award is the most prestigious award that any team can win. It celebrates the ultimate success of the FIRST mission and FLL values. It measures how the team members inspire and motivate others about the excitement of science and technology, solve problems, and demonstrate respect and gracious professionalism to everyone involved in the competition.
To be considered for the Champion's Award, teams must perform well in both the technical and team presentation categories - Robot Design, Robot Performance, Project Presentation and Teamwork. This year’s award goes to Whitney High School in Cerritos". This followed the prior announcement that 10th grader, Ian Villa, had won the Young Mentor’s Award in recognition of his support, impact, inspiration, and guidance in coaching an outstanding team.
Currently in its tenth year, FIRST LEGO League is enjoying its biggest season ever, with more than 10,000 teams in 38 countries competing in hundreds of qualifying events and Championship Tournaments. More than 100,000 students have competed to win honors and recognition. Nelson congratulated the team and announced that they would represent the Los Angeles area at the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, to be held in conjunction with the FIRST Championship, April 17-19, 2008 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Further, that a generous grant from Rockwell-Collins would cover the team’s $1,000 entry fee to the World Festival.
This would be mind-blowing news for any school in the Los Angeles area, but it is doubly so for Whitney High. Just last month, Whitney’s FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics team won the coveted Inspire Award at the Los Angeles Regional FTC. The Inspire award is given to the team that the judges felt truly embodied the ‘challenge’ of the FTC program, a team that serves as an inspiration as to what young minds can accomplish. The team that receives this award has performed well in all judging categories and was chosen by the judges as having best represented a role model FIRST Tech Challenge team. Whitney’s FTC Team will represent Los Angeles County in the FIRST Tech Challenge games at the same World Festival!
Both teams are now actively seeking sponsors for air fare and housing costs while at the World Festival. To sponsor a student or team, go to www.whsrobotics.net .
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FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology through teamwork and problem solving, is celebrating its biggest-ever FIRST LEGO® League season with the 2007 "Power Puzzle" Challenge.
This year’s Challenge calls for teams of middle-school students, ages 9 to 14, to use robotics to understand and create solutions for one of today’s most critical environmental issues: energy management and conservation.
With missions exploring solar panels on houses, hydro-dams, wind turbines and planting trees, teams had to program their robots to find sustainable options to meet our planet’s growing energy needs in environmentally sound ways.
FIRST collaborated with the Gulf Coast Combined Heat and Power Application Center, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina and the Second Hill Group, an independent consultant that specializes in issues including energy, environment and green design, to create a theme and Challenge missions that are reflective of today’s real-world issues.
"The environment is a huge concern for everyone, including kids," said Dean Kamen,
FIRST founder. "Giving them a hands-on experience that allows them to use their imaginations and creativity in combination with science and technology to solve a real-world problem is empowering. It captures the true spirit of FIRST LEGO League and unleashes the creative problem-solving skills today’s kids need for building a better tomorrow."
FIRST LEGO League is an international program for 9 to 14 year-old children (10 to 16 outside the U.S.) created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998. Each September, FIRST LEGO League announces the annual challenge to teams, which engages them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build and program robots to solve real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.
"
FIRST LEGO League so brilliantly captures the natural curiosity and creativity of youth, and combines it with real-world issues and research and teamwork activities that put children in a position of identifying and creating innovative solutions to big problems," said Jens Maibom, vice president, LEGO Group. "In this manner, FIRST LEGO League inspires children around the world to realize the power of their creative thinking skills in making a real difference, which naturally makes them feel good and motivates them to continue learning by doing."
ABOUT
FIRST
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering.
With the support of many of the world’s most well-known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the
FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students, FIRST LEGO League for children 9-14 years old, and Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org. To learn more about the "Power Puzzle" Challenge, go to www.firstlegoleague.org.
ABOUT THE LEGO GROUP
LEGO Systems Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin America) division of the LEGO Group, a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities through high-quality, creatively educational play materials, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough." For more information, visit www.LEGO.com
If you would like more information about the Whitney High School Robotics Club, or would like to sponsor an individual, a team, or a portion of the World Festival costs, please send us a note via the form below.