This week the sixth and eighth graders in Government and Politics are working on letters to an elected official of their choice. Students worked last week to brainstorm and outline ideas of issues to write about. Students came up with ideas ranging from school funding, road repair, environmental issues, youth curfew, to small businesses in Colfax. It's exciting to see what the next generation of voters cares about!
At the same time, student are learning the proper formal format their letter should be in and practicing supporting a claim with evidence. At the end of the week students' letters will be mailed in-town, to Des Moines or to Washington, D.C. Hopefully each student will hear back from their chosen representative.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
FIRST Tech Challenge Regional Qualifier
18 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams from around Iowa met at the Net Center on the campus of Indian Hills Community
College in Ottumwa on Saturday, January 28th. This was the second to last regional qualifier for FTC Iowa. “Full Metal,” was only one of two rookie teams in attendance. Both the team and the coach were quite pleased with how we competed in the “robot game.” In our rookie season we managed to outscore eight other teams and finish 10th overall. As their coach, it has been remarkable to watch the team overcome challenges and experience breakthroughs as they worked together to rack up the most points in this year’s game “Bowled Over.”
Students were required to design, build, and program a unique robot to perform specific tasks for this year's challenge. It was wonderful to watch the sheer amount of academic and personal growth that took place over the season (August-January). By the arrival of our regional qualifier, every student on the team had overcome something he or she once though impossible. This is the true meaning of the competition to build perseverance and dedication within each and every student.
I am already beginning to plan for next year's season. During spring semester there will be a robotics club at the high school where students can learn the details of this international engineering competition. Students are already itching to start on next year’s challenge!
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