Mindstorm Masters on TV

Just a quick post to highlight the recognition one Bellevue Robotics Team is getting (OK, they ARE my kids… my team!  BUT, they are STILL awesome!!!)

For those of  you that don’t know First Lego League, the competition is a little schizophrenic… the best way to describe it is as a sexy robotics tournament wrapped around a science fair. We are judged on 4 criteria: Robot Performance (self-explanatory), Robot Design (separate from performance), Gracious Professionalism (teamwork, respect, positivity) and The Project (This year the theme is Transportation and we chose to work on the problem of people running out of gas. We designed a container and fuel combination that can be safely manufactured at home and stored in the back of a car in case you run out of gas. We’ve tested it for flammability and impact resistance and had it pronounced “very safe” by two different Fire Captains.). Competition days are VERY full and amazing events for young competitors.

This particular group of Bellevue School District kids is getting well-deserved recognition and is leaving (next week) for the World Championships – WorldFest!!

King 5 Segment on The Mindstorm Masters

Well, in any case, they made the right selection… now it’s going to be interesting to see how the books get purchased. Where will the money come from as the district considers cutbacks?

* Take your final standardized test. The College Board and the ACT both offer December tests (December 5 and 12, respectively). If you have registered for either of these tests, make sure you are fully prepared. Take a practice test beforehand, or sign up for a refresher Bellevue Tutoring Club session.

* Follow-up with recommendations. You should have already asked your teachers and counselors for recommendation letters. Of course, so have many of your classmates, and your Bellevue School District teachers may be feeling as frazzled as you are. Make sure you gently follow-up with those people who have promised letters, but have not yet delivered. For those who have, run, don’t walk, to send a thank-you note or deliver a Starbucks card once your applications are in.

* Finish applications. It seems obvious, but when late December arrives, and you still have an essay to write here and a list of activities to create there, the work can pile up. Complete your final tasks one by one, and use the Common Application for the schools that accept it. Remember that one or two great essays re-purposed for your different apps are better than 4-5 different half-good essays.

* Keep on top of school work. It’s easy to let your course work fall by the wayside when you are working on something as big as college applications. Add to that the distractions of the fall and winter holidays and senioritis, and your grades may begin to slip. Colleges do keep an eye on your senior year grades, so make sure you are completing your homework each night and staying on top of your assignments.

Recently, through a perfect storm of decisions and policies, the State  (or National, I’m unclear on which) PTSA organization has made it much harder for our local PTSAs to perform one of our major functions, providing enrichment opportunities to our kids!

Here’s the situation, PTSA managment discovered/realized that local PTSA’s were sponsoring before and after-school classes and clubs (like the ones in Robotics, Math and Science that I at the Bellevue Tutoring Club do). They discovered that some of the teachers/organizations were using this “sponsorship” to get insurance coverage instead of having their own. They then over-reacted, dictating from on high that unless the local PTSA is going to have a member at all events AND collect and dispurse all monies, the event could NOT be sponsored by PTSA.

This is where my problem starts! The state PTSA would say that their policy doesn’t mean that the event can’t happen, it simply means that the PTSA isn’t going to sponsor it. However, that is a gross oversimplification. Because the PTSA isn’t sponsoring the event, the district has to follow their policies with regard to use of school facilities by outside organizations and charge a rental. Because the vendor has to pay a rental, either the class will be canceled if attendance is low (Last year at Cherry Crest, I did a Math Olympiad class with 5 students. This year I would have to cancel that class.) and/or cancel scholarships that the vendor would have provided. (It’s always been my policy to simply accept students even if they couldn’t pay.) Something the individual school PTAs have appreciated.

Why would the PTA leadership make this decision??? Frankly, at least on this issue, I think they’ve lost track of their purpose. They, the state and national leadership, exist to serve us, the rank and file, and our needs, not the other way around! The mission of the PTA is to (and I take this directly from their website…) “PTAs do this by addressing the needs of their individual schools. By becoming a PTA member, you can help identify those needs and develop solutions that may include making the school safer, becoming more technologically advanced, being more tolerant to others’ differences, and bringing enriched educational opportunities to the school.” Isn’t that EXACTLY what we’re talking about here?

The State will talk long and hard about liability but, in the end, they are failing to live up to their mission. There ARE other answers: requiring each vendor to have their own insurance, developing a release clause that must be inserted in registration and promotional documents or even providing special coverage to PTSAs that want to sponsor classes. I completely understand the need for the PTSA to demand that any sponsored organizations carry insurance. I also understand the need for the PTSA to protect it’s legal backside. BUT, THEY, the state administration needs to focus on finding ways to make our desires HAPPEN, not prohibiting a key aspect of PTSA operations!!

Taking practice tests in realistic testing environments is the absolute best way to get better scores on either the SAT or the ACT. With professional analysis, like we (Tutoring Club) will provide, it’s even more valuable. Here’s your opportunity to improve your scores while also doing something to help others. More power to Bellevue School District’s (and particularly Sammamish High School’s) clubs!

For additional information on the test, visit shscluboperationsmile.cfsites.org or e-mail Bellevue School District teacher Kim Dunda (club advisor) at dundak@bsd405.org.

Hope to see you there!

Costs of College for Bellevue School District students

Speaking of college educations for Bellevue School District students, I forgot to post this earlier but tonight and tomorrow, Bellevue School District has put together
this 2009 Future by Design College Conference at Interlake High School and Newport High School respectively.

So, I DO tend to wonder about the thinking behind some of the stickers I see. When I see a “Beam me up, Scottie” or a “Fukengruven” on a young kid’s car, it makes me smile “ah, to be young again…”. “I met the MAN” always makes my mouth water (it’s the catch phrase for a local BBQ shack!). When I see a “I heart chihuahuas”, I get that also; their little, yappy-dog makes them happy, cool.

On the other hand, I saw a “My gamer fragged your honor student” on the back of a Honda CRV driven by a middle-aged woman, near Interlake High School, right here in Bellevue School District, apparently a mother, and it really bothers me. I’d love to fire back a bumper salvo of “My honor student will, one day, FIRE your gamer!” or “My honor student will lead a longer, more productive, happier life than your gamer because he has greater knowledge, more varied interests and has been able to acquire wisdom through studying the failures and successes of preceding generations rather than simply nudging his nose against the adrenalin-rush button like a fast-twitch rat in a maze.” but, of course, that wouldn’t fit on a bumper sticker, would it?

What is her motivation? Is she really so proud of her Gamer? Or, is she so jealous of my Honor Rollers? Or, is it something more systemic..? I LOVE gaming! Ask my wife about whole weekends that disappeared while I cranked away at Prince of Persia, Commanche or Civilization. There are Ms. PacMan machines in eastern WA and Tokyo that probably STILL have my name, ZOK, on their honor rolls. But, I was never so myopic as to think that victory was good for anything other than temporary bragging rights. I just can’t imagine bragging about my progeny having nothing else going for them than their ability to twitch thru a combat simulation.

I work hard every day at the Tutoring Club trying to get kids ON the honor roll because I believe in education. Are there really people out there that haven’t gotten the message that the surest way to raise your kids’ place in society and to help them lead “examined” lives is to make sure that they get a good education? Wasn’t there a movie called Idiocracy that riffed on this theme a short time ago? Next time a batch of “brain” jobs is outsourced to India or China where getting a great education is held in high esteem, don’t rail at the CEO of the company that is simply trying to find qualified applicants, go have a talk with the Gamer’s mom about supporting education instead of denigrating it.