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KGO-TV abc7news Lisa Amin Thursday May 28, 2009: Eaglebots hope to make botball competition : Oak Grove Botball Champions |
SAN JOSE OAK GROVE HIGH SCHOOL "Eaglebots"
International
Botball Championship in
Washington D.C. Jeanie Romanoff
EagleBot Teacher Mentor - Media Contact RomanoffJ@esuhsd.org, 209-756-5051
Team Bios | Press Release | Media Coverage | Botball
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WHAT: San Jose Oak Grove High
School "EAGLEBOTS" Robotics Team finishes 5th on the Planet
in the International Robotics
Competition held in Washington DC, July 1- July 5, 2009
WHEN: July 1 - July 5, 2009
WHO: 21 high school
students from Oak Grove High School competing with 300 students from
all over the planet.
WHERE: Washington DC
MEDIA
CONTACT: Dean
McCully, dean@dmccully.com 209-614-4650
For Immediate Release
Northern California Oak Grove High School, San Jose California
“Eaglebots” Botball Robotics Team
Seeking Sponsorship for their trip to the International Botball Championship
Washington
D.C. June 30 – July 7, 2009
The San Jose Oak Grove
High School
Botball Robotics team the “Eaglebots” swept the Northern California
Botball
robotics championship in March 2009, now has finished 5th
planet-wide in the International
Botball Championship in Washington D.C. on June 1 – July 5,
2009.
The Eaglebots are a real
“Cinderella
story”. Many team members are “English learners”, recent
immigrants from
13 different cultures, speaking 9 different principal languages. Many
of these
young people are holding down jobs to support their families while
attending
high school and struggling to maintain the grades to qualify them for
college. Yet somehow these young people found time to create the
winning
robots that swept the Northern California Botball championship.
Botball is unique in that
all robots
are fully autonomous. Unlike other robotics competitions that
rely on
remote control to adjust the robot's tactics, Botball robots execute a
pre-programmed strategy designed by the student teams. Once the
competition begins, no human input is allowed. 61 teams competed
in the
July 2009 global Botball competitions in Washington EC, including well
funded
teams from several wealthier school districts around the world.
Oak
Grove High School is deep in the heart of the low social /economic area
of East
Side San Jose Union High School District in San Jose. So, funding was
virtually
nonexistent. Teachers volunteered for robotics mentoring because
no money
was available for overtime, robot spare parts had to be scrounged or
borrowed
from other schools, no money was available to transport the students to
the
regional competitions. The Oak Grove Eaglebots were barely expected to
enter
the competition, let alone finish, let alone place. Yet with so much
working
against them, the Oak Grove Eaglebots somehow beat all odds and beat
all but 4 of the worldwide teams, including 4th place in the
double-elimination rounds, 5th place overall, several awards for
teamwork and design.
We have set up a website with more information, and to help collect donations. Please consider sponsoring one of the underdog Eaglebots listed below in their life changing journey to D.C. Anything you can contribute would be a great help, even a few dollars would be great, in rewarding this award-winning underdog team for proudly representing Northern California in the International Botball Championships.
Thank you for your support! Go Eaglebots!!!
Jeanie Romanoff
San Jose Oak Grove High
School
EagleBot Teacher Mentor
Romanoffj@esuhsd.org,
209-756-5051
<top>
NASA, Alta Devices, Yahoo, Caywood Foundation, and Other Silicon Valley Corporations Sponsor Northern California Champion Oak Grove High School "Eaglebot" Botball Educational Robotics Champions
The
KISS
Institute for Practical Robotics KIPR declares the 21
teenage members of the San
Jose Oak Grove High School Eaglebot "Botball" robotics Team as 5th on the Planet at the prestigious
Global Educational Robotics Conference (GECR) and Botball Competition
in Washington D.C. July 2009. An
estimated
500 spectators cheered for 61 teams from as far away as Bahrain and
United Arab Emerites, as well as most states in the U.S. competing
during the global "Botball" competition.
Oak Grove High School is
part of
the low income East Side San Jose School
District, the team who swept the Northern California "Botball" robotics
regional championships in March 2009. The
annual International Botball Tournament takes place during the Global
Conference on Educational Robotics . More than 6,000 international
students
participate in Botball every year and more than 60,000 have competed
over 11
years. In 2009, teams from 23 states and 6 countries will participate
in
Botball.
Please see the website for more information and for instructions on donating or helping fund the trip to Washington D.C: www.regathon.com/eaglebots
The Botball Educational
Robotics Program
engages middle and high school aged students in a team-oriented
robotics
competition that develops students’ science, technology, engineering,
computer
science and math skills. In Botball, all the design, coding, and
building of
robots is done by students, and no machining is necessary.. The theme
of this
year's game was “Alternative Energy”.
NASA has sponsored Botball
Robotics for over
ten years. Several students who have participated in Botball have
become NASA
interns. NASA uses autonomous robots in space and planetary
exploration, and
they use Botball as an opportunity to reach out to future engineers and
help
them get relevant hands-on experience and skills. Terry Grant, a NASA
Associate, has been personally supporting the Botball Program as a
volunteer
for many years, going to schools and teaching programming. He said, "In
this environment kids learn how to work together, connecting with the
technology and understanding how it is relevant in a way that is
impossible to
get from lectures or books...and they come away inspired to learn more!
My only
concern is how to make experiences like these available to all our
youth; I see
it as critical to our future."
For more information about
Botball please
see: www.Botball.org or contact: outreach@kipr.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contacts:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeanie
Romanoff, EagleBot Teacher Mentor - Media Contact
Saroj
Pathak, EagleBot Engineer Mentor
Dean
McCully - Media Contact
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Partner's Information
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Botball http://www.Botball.org
KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, an educational non-profit organization, will present 14 Botball Workshops and Tournaments this year - 12 in the United States and 2 based internationally. The Botball Program begins with a 2-day professional development workshop where educators and team leaders learn about current robotics technology and how to implement it into their classroom or community. Through the course of the workshop, participants receive all the information about the current Botball game and the reusable robotics kit and components - Students construct a working demo bot!
Oak Grove Eaglebots http://www.regathon.com/eaglebots
The
Northern
California
Eaglebots consist of 14 student members and 6 teacher/mentors, who
partner to
build & program robots for robotic competitions all around the San
Francisco Bay Area. 9 first languages
are represented by this student team from the low income neighborhoods
in East
Side San Jose. The Eaglebots swept the
competition against stiff competition from much better funded and more
robotically-experienced school districts, through a combination of hard
work
and clever robotics implementation.
Oak
Grove High School of San Jose East Side Unified School District
285
Blossom Hill
Rd, San
Jose, CA 95123, (408) 347-6500
Our
mission is
to provide a
safe, caring, learning environment where students achieve the academic,
aesthetic, personal, and social development required to continue
learning,
pursue post-secondary education, compete in a changing job market, and
participate in a multicultural democratic society.
Rohit: I
came to America 1 ˝ years ago There are 5
families with a total of 15 people living in one house. We work hard
just to live.
I work hard on my grades and got a scholarship for college.
James: My dad came from
Taiwan and came to America with $100.00
My mom came from China. I was born in Guam. I help my family by
doing
chores, mow lawn, do dishes, do the laundry, and mop the floor. I work
very
hard to keep my grades up and to score high on the PSAT and SAT. I love Physics and want to be good in
Math and Science. I plan to go to University.
Diana: My parents originally
came to America from Mexico so they could have a better life for their
children. My dad graduated from a university in Mexico with a degree in
agricultural engineering but his degree was no good in America. My mom
went to
school in Mexico through 6th grade but had to drop out
because her
parents had no money. She started working in 6th grade to
help
support her family. About a year and a-half ago, my mom had cancer,
major
surgery, and had to have a series of Chemotherapy. I had to cook, clean
the
house, do the laundry and be the mom for my younger brother. Now my mom
is ok
and I still help around the house but spend my time writing computer
programs
and studying so I will get a scholarship for the University.
Ali: I was born in
Afghanistan. When I was one month old my dad was shot and killed in the
war. My
older brother died from exposure because we were too poor to have warm
clothes.
My cousin snuck us across the Pakistan border to be safe. Even in
Pakistan the
War caught up with us and we had to escape again. We were hiding in my
cousins’
house for 9 years. Then my grandpa who lived in America loaned us money
to fly
to America. We are still trying to pay him back. My other brother, my
sister,
and I work to help support the family. It has been hard for me to
adjust to my
new life because I have seen so much violence and my family had to deal
with
violence in our new country. I have been
stabbed in the face and had to deal with that anger. When I first came to America, I solved all my problems
with my fists. Now, since I have been in the Eaglebots for almost two
years, I
have not been in a fight. I am working to improve my attitude and my
grades so
I can go to the University.
Shari and Priya,
We came to America 1 ˝ years ago when
our Uncle applied for
our parents and us to get a visa to come
to America. We got to come to America but our parents had to stay in
India. My
Uncle supports us, and I (Shari) also work to help. I am in 10th
grade and Priya is in 9th grade. We work hard to keep our
grades up
so we can go to University. We do Robotics because we want to know more
about
the culture. We are learning Science and Technology and we both want to
be
Engineers. The Robotics club is a safe
place to learn engineering and computer programming. We are happy to be
in our
new country and we get a chance to interact with other people and a
chance to
present our talents.
Nathan: I am a senior and
have been accepted into college for next year. I have a younger
brother, and my
“single parent mom” supports and takes care of us. I play trumpet in
advanced
Jazz Band. I have been in the Eaglebots for two years. We have
hardships but
good grades are most important to me. I like to write computer programs
and
write musical programs for the robots.
Money: I am a crazy robot
builder and love the Eaglebots. I am another immigrant who
goes to school, works two part-time jobs
to help support our family. I am in 11th grade and work with
other
club members at break and lunch almost every day. I can't go to
Washington D.C.
because I have to work. Someday I plan to go to University so I can do
what I
love. That is engineering and computers.
Jaskirat: I have been in
U.S. for eight months. My parents are both pharmacists but could not
find work
in the difficult economy. I am struggling to learn a new culture, a new
language and a new life. Robotics and computers get me through each day.
Kulvir: I am love science
and math. I am in Robotics so I can get skills to go to college. I work
many
hours each week, go to school everyday and work hard on my homework. I
am new
to America but I am working to make a good life for my family and my
future.
Johan: I
was born in Saudi Arabia and my parents
were born in the Philippines. I came to the U. S. in 2000. I am working
hard to
get my grades up to go to University.
| San Jose City Hall News Flash: Eaglebots receive San Jose City Proclamation San Jose Mercury News San Jose's Oak Grove students headed to robotics competition Monday, May 25, 2009 By Michael Torrice mtorrice@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5064 San Francisco Chronicle - SFGate.com San Jose High School Team Wins With Robots Thursday, May 21, 2009 by Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer tabate@sfchronicle.com Santa Cruz Sentinel San Jose's Oak Grove students... Monday May 25, 2009 TheRobot.net Worldwide Robitics News and Events Los Angeles Chronicle Surfwax |
KTVU-2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuKJLQn4lm0 Aired Sunday May 24, 2009, 10 O'Clock News KICU-7 abc7news Eaglebots hope to make botbll competition Aired Thursday May 28, 2009, 11pm Lisa Amin KCBS Radio Radio Interview KLIV Radio Radio Interview KGO Radio Radio Interview Links on "IBM Almaden Research Center" - Facebook California Chronicle American Chronicle |
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Eaglebot's Sister Botball Teams
Special thanks to Lynbrook Robotics
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