LEGO Fun at Lyndhurst Estates in April

Once again, FLL Teams have the opportunity to showcase their FLL teams at LEGO Fun at Lyndhurst Estates in Tarrytown New York on Sunday April 20 from noon to 4pm. Lunch will be provided to all FLL teams.

Last year thousands of people attended the LEGO Fun at Lyndhurst a National Trust historic site on the Hudson River.

There will be two FLL tables set up for the FLL teams to demonstrate their robots in this year's Power Puzzle. In addition to showcasing the team's robot at this LEGO event, students will be able to participate in the other activities during the day.

Arthur Gugick, winner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation 2005 BrickFest, will be featured both days. His award winning scale model of the Lyndhurst Mansion will be displayed accompanied by his other replicas of famous buildings including the Taj Mahal which are all made out of LEGO pieces. It took eight weeks working in the evening hours to create the Lyndhurst replica.

A middle school Math teacher by day, Mr. Gugick will present demonstrations on combining math skills with creative thinking using LEGO pieces. He noted that “math skills are essential to figuring out the layout and scale… and you really learn about architecture in the process.”

Other activities include: a LEGO play area where children and adults can try their newly acquired building skills; “Guess the Number of LEGO Pieces” contest; a movie short created with LEGO figures and a ‘Find the LEGO shapes inside the Mansion “ hunt.

http://www.mocpages.com/folder.php/4399

For more information about LYNDHURST and their educational mission:
http://www.lyndhurst.org/education03.html

For more information or if you are interested in participating at this event please contact me ASAP.

Gary Israel
Robotics Consultant
Leadership LSO

1230 Zerega Avenue
Bronx, NY 10462
Cell: 845-893-0327

Pit/Competition FLL Layout at Javits

RIDDER KIDS TRY TO GET ONE LEGO UP

by Jeni Asaba, Bronx Times Reporter

With just over a month to finish their preparations, the Herman Ridder Junior High School 98 robotics team is utilizing all resources to insure their victory at the FIRST LEGO League Asian Open Championship in April. To assist them in their quest for success, NYC FLL head referee Richard Wong recently dropped by the school to help the team with their moves.

Striving to achieve the desired 400 points, a perfect score that would allow the “Ridder Kids” an opportunity to compete at the championship against the best FLL teams from around the globe, they listened and learned.

But this fortunate visit wasn't the only support the team received lately.

After seeing the group on television, a New Jersey family contacted team consultant Gary Israel to make a donation.

“I traveled out to their home and found to my amazement a basement full of LEGO pieces that are now at the Herman Ridder School ,” he said.

The “Ridder Kids” also received two boxes of magazines from Make , a publication that works to inspire people to explore the realms of science, technology and engineering.

“It's amazing how the community gets together to help this group out,” Israel said.

While support from donors as far away as Florida and Toronto is making the journey to Tokyo seem more probable, Israel said an additional $15,000 of the trip's $30,000 price tag is still needed.

The 10 attending team members will leave for Japan on April 25, and be in charge of creating a multi-functional robot equipped to complete a 13-project optical course.

They will be judged on the robot's ability to complete all of the assigned projects in a timely manner.

“They'll be able to use the skills they're developing now when they go to high school and throughout the rest of their lives,” Israel said.

While the “Ridder Kids” came in first place at the 2007 NYC FLL Championship, leading them to the FLL World Festival in Atlanta , this will be their first time attending the Asian Open Championship.

“Wouldn't it be nice to have some positive news,” Israel stated about ensuring this once in a lifetime opportunity for those he calls “the top kids in the Bronx .”

Before their trip overseas, the “Ridder Kids” will participate in the first ever NYC FLL Expo, which will be held at the Javits Center on Sunday, April 6.

To help, contact Israel at (845) 893-0327 or ggimhs@aol.com .

Schedule at Javits for April 6 (tentative)

The official public agenda is as follows:

* 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM: Morning Check-in
* 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM: Unofficial Practice Rounds
* 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM: Opening Ceremonies
* 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Round 1
* 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Round 2
* 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Round 3
* 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM: Closing Ceremonies

*A 4th Round may be run if time permits.

Notes:

* There will be power available at each pit table.
* There will be 3 chairs at each pit table.
* Pit tables will be pre-assigned and posted on this blog and also sent to the teams. Just check in and take your team to the pit area. I am grouping teams by boroughs and by states for out of state people to make it easier to locate teams.
* Javits is a big place. You might consider some kind of id on each child with the team number, school and pit table.
* There may be some field kits available to take home. See me.

NYCFIRST Update 24: Only 10 Slots Left at Javits for April 6

NYCFIRST Update 24: Only 10 Slots Left at Javits for April 6

March 15, 2008: Happy Ides of March

A newsletter for the NYCFIRST robotics community in New York City and the surrounding area.
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

NYC/NJ FIRST web site http://nycnjfirst.org/

ALL UPDATES POSTED AT
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/
Do not rely solely on these updates as I post news regularly on the blog.

Note: the tournament at St. Edmund's in Brooklyn has been postponed. A new date convenient to teams that want to take part will be set up, possibly in May.

FLL Tri-state tournament at Javits April 6
The Javits Convention Center (37th St and 11th Ave.) will be the site of a major robotics event in NYC from April 5-6. FRC, FTC and FLL – a mini World Festival (without the world).

Friday April 4 is a practice day for FRC and you are welcome to come and observe. Tours of the pit areas will be offered (goggles must be worn and will be available for loan.)

Saturday, April 5, FRC and FTC competitions will take place concurrently all day.

Sunday, April 6, the FTC competition area is converted to an FLL space with 8 tables.

Do we need some volunteers on Sunday? Hell yes.

Important information for registered teams:

• Doors at Javits open at 8am.
• Registration will be from at 8:30-9:30
• Rough time of competition: 10-1 with no lunch break.
• Pit tables will be pre-assigned. All you do is check in and take your kids to the pit area at your assigned tables.
• There will few chairs available at the tables. So, floor sitting will be in operation. Consider having kids bring something to sit on (one big picnic.)
• There will be NO practice tables set up so bring your own mat and field set up. There will be plenty of room for them.
• We will get in as many rounds as we can.
• Trophies to 3 top performing teams and a certificate to each team (not to each child.)
• Seating in the bleachers is tight. I will send out a targeted email to the registered teams asking how many people you are bringing. There may not be room for cheerleaders, etc.

So far, 50 teams from the quad state area have registered.
10 slots still open

To register – send e-mail to norscot@aol.com containing the following information:

1. Team number
2. Team name
3. School/organizational affiliation
4. Borough
5. Team contact name
6. Team contact e-mail address
7. Team contact daytime phone

Team Number Team Name School/Org Borough Contact
3874 Ryan Lions JHS 216 George Ryan Q Peter Xanthus
1814 Transformatrix Intermediate School 230 Queens Sonya Rencher
3840 Cyberbots Brics-2-Bots Q Veryl Greene
6292 Warbots Cambria Center for the Gifted Child Q Sheryl Liles
2395 Robo Fusion 192 Renaissance Middle School/ I. S. 192 I Q Eric Greene
2397 Robo Fusion 192 Renaissance Middle School/ I. S. 192 II Q Eric Greene
5618 LAMChops 1 Louis Armstrong Middle School (IS 227Q) Q Richard B. Akalsk
5619 LAMChops 2 Louis Armstrong Middle School (IS 227Q) Q Richard B. Akalsk
573 Mr Roboto IS 125, Woodside Q Rudy Vera
575 BSGE Baccalaureate School Q Melissa Hinson
4719 The Epiphany School M Christine Cook-Alvarez
5522 IS 52 Inwood MS M Adaliz Gonzalez-Medaglia
5115 Thing 1 Manhattan East M Ms. Cancel
5116 Thing 2 Manhattan East M Ms. Cancel
6540 MS 44 Robotic Wizards MS 44 William O'Shea Complex M Elvetta Harris
1963 Epiphany1 IS 72 SI Randi Huss/Danny Colasanto
1964 Epiphany2 IS 72 SI Randi Huss/Danny Colasanto
1965 Epiphany3 IS 72 SI Randi Huss/Danny Colasanto
983 NXT 193 P.S. 193K Brooklyn Stacy Solomon
1090 Lego My Eggo Sunset Park Prep, M.S. 821 Brooklyn Mike Barry
189 Robotnics Automotive High School Brooklyn Bruce Rajswasser
1435 Pack-A-Watt Packer Collegiate Institute Brooklyn Maureen Reilly
3555 Power Knights PS 8 Brooklyn Brandeis Hayes and Tracey Posluszny
1477 The Robot Shockers P.S. 58 The Carroll School Brooklyn Keith Wynne and Roger Levy
5689 WWW.Robokids.com P.S. 81 Brooklyn Everbell Boampong-Bishop
1468 Warbots MS 50k Brooklyn Reginald Wilborn Jr.
3628 SkyBots I.S. 383 Philippa Schuyler Middle School Brooklyn Lindrick Outerbridge
196 Solargy IS 123 Bx Chris Gooding
7289 PS 196x Bx Gladys Bharath
5285 Mott Hall III Lego Legends Mott Hall III Bx Kelly Vaughan
5703 TechnoBots Aspire Preparatory Middle School (MS322x) Bx Deborah Ogedengbe
6814 Phipps Lego Team Phipps Community Development Corp. @ P.S. 112 Bx Matthew Miller
2132 The Ridder Kids Hermann Ridder Intermediate School 98 Bx Harold Smith
705 GLOBE EXPLORERS GLOBE SCHOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH Bx PAUL RITER
707 GLOBE MASTERS GLOBE SCHOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH Bx PAUL RITER
1634 Team X IS 190 Bx Maribeth Whitehouse
7100 BX Ryders I.S. 162 Bx Charl Castelyn
5744 Energy All-Stars P.S. 108x Bx Vanessa Jones
1673 Molecules PS 195 Bx Zelma Torres-Rosado
5672 Ridgefield Robotics Slocum-Skewes Middle School NJ Joan Furman
5673 Ridgefield Robotics Slocum-Skewes Middle School NJ Joan Furman
3936 North Star Robotics North Star Academy Charter School of Newark Newark, NJ Brian Smith
1229 Dr. Horton Newark Public Schools Cynthia Byrd/Shafeek Mohammed
1221 Miller St. Newark Public Schools Stephanie Moore/Shafeek Mohammed
2428 Computer Jocks Computer Adventures Wayne NJ Dolores Bowyer
2254 Landroids Lancer Robotics Club Livingston, NJ John Yeh
531 Techno Girls Girl Scouts of Heart of Hudson Westchester Shohreh Anand
3066 The IceBreakers Girl Scouts of Nassau County LI Steve Kitchener
5597 RoboWarriors School Eden Christian Academy Sewickley, PA Dana Coyne
3129 SAP POSbots SAP Sponsored Bristol PA Lee Gutherman and Paul Lownes

If you want to be removed from this list type "unsubscribe" in the subject area and hit return. If you already asked and it didn't happen yet, ask again as sometimes I get behind in paperwork.

Compiled by Norm Scott
NYCFIRST Registration coordinator
norscot@aol.com
normsco@gmail.com
917-992-3734

--
Have a good day

Norm

News From the "Ridder Kids"

Good morning friends of the Ridder Kids,

Head Referee for NYC FIRST LEGO League Visits Herman Ridder JHS

Yesterday Richard Wong, the Head Referee for NYC FIRST LEGO League visited the team at the school. In addition to congratulating the team he was there to assist them in their quest for the perfect score of 400 points which will be needed in order to compete with the top FLL teams around the world at the Asian FLL Open.

Donation of LEGO Pieces

A family in New Jersey contacted me after seeing the "Ridder Kids" on the WNBC program to ask if the team would like a donation of LEGO's. I traveled out to their home and found to my amazement a basement full of LEGO pieces that are now at the Herman Ridder school ( see table below).

Donations of Make Magazines

A couple of weeks ago I traveled into Manhattan and picked up two boxes of a science/tech/engineering magazine which were graciously donated by Make magazine for the Ridder Kids. Last week I heard from Make magazine that they are working with a reporter from the NY Times for a potential Make-related article on how the magazine is inspiring people/kids to learn science/tech/engineering though unconventional means. They want to hear about the reaction from the Ridder Kids to the Make magazines. www.makezine.com

Ridder Kids to Participate at the FLL Event at Javits April 6

The Ridder Kids will be participating in the first ever New York City FLL Expo to be held at the Javits Center on Sunday, April 6, 2008. The New York City FLL Expo will be taking place concurrently with the 2008 New York City FIRST Robotics Competition and the second annual New York City FIRST Science and Technology Career Expo. There will be 60 FLL teams running 4-6 rounds of this year's game Power Puzzle. The teams will begin competition at 9 am concluding at approximately 12:30 PM, with trophies given to the top three teams.

Offer of Assistance from Toronto to Florida

Yesterday I received an email from someone in Toronto who heard about the team's upcoming trip to Japan and would like to help the team get to Japan.

While I was in Florida recently I received two checks from people who had read about the Ridder Kids in the NY Times. With the departure of the team for Japan on the morning of April 25th, just seven weeks from today, the team is still accepting donations.

Gary Israel

Leadership LSO

Robotics Consultant

Team Advisor

Herman Ridder JHS

845-893-0327

ggimhs@aol.com

Awards ceremony presentation from the December

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dcj5ndsz_21hg2gsshm

Bad News About Region 4 Pentathalon

I'm sorry to announce that the Region 4 Pentathalon will not be held this year. With the changes in the DOE structure, there is no support structure to run it this year. Tentatively, I expect it to return next year, when I will have more control over the prerequisites that are required to run the event.

Mike Koumoullos

Editor's NOTE: If anyone else would like to host the Pantathalon, let me know.

NYCFIRST Update 23: Sixty Teams for FLL at Javits April 6

This update was sent:

March 1, 2008: Happy Post Leap Year Day

A newsletter for the NYCFIRST robotics community in New York City and the surrounding area.
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

NYC/NJ FIRST web site http://nycnjfirst.org/

ALL UPDATES POSTED AT
http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/
Do not rely solely on these updates as I post news regularly on the blog.

NOTE: I will have sketchy email contact from Tues. March 4 - Tues March 11.

Breaking news

Congrats to IS 72 SI:

I.S. 72 LEGO ROBOTICS TEAM GIVE TIBETAN MUSEUM AN ECO-FRIENDLY MAKEOVER
DISPLAY OF PRIZE WINNING PROJECT HELD AT MUSEUM
Saturday, March 1, 3:00pm
Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art

Coach Randi Huss can be contacted at: randihuss@gmail.com
Press release at: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/2008/02/is-72-si-at-tibetan-museum-march-1.html

• Upgrade to 60 FLL teams at Javits, Sunday April 6.
• Seminars to help new FLL teams
• Scholarship Opportunity for Spring Robotics!
• St. Edmond's hosts FLL exhibition tournament (Brooklyn) March 12, 2008 10 teams. tournament starts at 4pm. (contact Christine.Zaremba@gmail.com)

FLL Tri-state tournament at Javits April 6: Upgraded to 60 teams
The Javits Convention Center will be the site of a major robotics event in NYC from April 4-6. FRC, FTC and FLL – a mini World Festival (without the world).

We've given NYC teams a 2 week head start. We have 26 NY and 2 NJ teams. Now we're opening it up to the tri-state area. We may even hold an event within the event for the top performing robots to see the best of the best.

28 teams registered so far.
You can now register more than one team from your school.
Event to be opened to teams from New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island and upstate NY.

List of teams registered so far at end of this Update.
List of teams as they are added will be posted on Norm's Robotics. (Click link in upper right hand column.)
There will be a delay of a few days for new teams added, so don't get nervous.

FIRST COME FIRST SERVED

The New York City FLL Expo will be taking place concurrently with the 2008 New York City FIRST Robotics Competition and our second annual New York City FIRST Science and Technology Career Expo. More than 3,000 people will be in attendance.

Some slots may be reserved for teams selected by the New York City FIRST LEGO League Planning Committee to help ensure equitable participation across the boroughs.

Details:

* 60 teams running 4 to 6 rounds of Power Puzzle.
* Scoring for robot performance at the game table.
* Trophies for top three places in robot performance
* No judging but you may being research projects and have spokespersons explain them to the public.
* Certificates of participation given to all teams
* Start – approximately 9:00am
* Finish – approximately 12:30pm

You may bring your research project to display at your pit table for the general public to view.


To register – send e-mail to norscot@aol.com containing the following information:

1. Team number
2. Team name
3. School/organizational affiliation
4. Borough
5. Team contact name
6. Team contact e-mail address
7. Team contact daytime phone

NOTE: This means ALL the information, not "Hi, Norm, I'm in. See you at Javits."


Friday April 4 will be available for school visits to observe the FRC tournament practice rounds.
Full FRC competition begins Sat. Apr. 5 and completes Sunday.
In addition to FRC, 60 FTC teams will compete on Saturday using smaller non-LEGO robots.

We may need a few teams to man/woman an FLL exhibition table and answer questions from the public on all 3 days.
Bring your research project too. Let me know if interested.


Seminars to help new FLL teams
The Office of Instructional Technology of Brooklyn is offering seminars to help new FLL teams.
The classes are held on Saturdays around the city. I am teaching one that ends March 18. There will be a second set of seminars starting Saturday, March 29. The class is Queens is held in PS 147. Below is the link to register. Teachers are paid per session to attend!

They are also looking for an instructor. I can't teach that one because of the work I am doing with the District 24 and 32 grants. The teacher is paid per session and an hour a week prep time. I can show anyone interested what I did.

If you have any questions, just ask me.

http://www.oitlive.com/6151082774818893/cwp/view.asp?A=3&Q=282705&C=52119

Mike Koumoullos
Aviation HS
mike@koumoullos.com


Scholarship Opportunity for Spring Robotics!

Vision Ed Inc. and Make Magazine are pleased to announce an exciting new scholarship opportunity for Robotics teams grades 1-7 throughout the New York City area. This scholarship will allow one team of up to 12 members to compete in the first annual ROBOFEST NYC, a new robotics event that will be held at SONY Wonder Technology Labs on April 12th.

ROBOFEST NYC was designed as an opportunity to celebrate creative work by children in the field of robotics. The event will feature both a student expo of original projects and a robotics performers competition. Teams and exhibitors may work with any robotics system including RCX, NXT, and Pico Cricket, and medals will be awarded for ingenuity, design, and programming.
For more information about ROBOFEST NYC, please visit: http://www.visionedinc.org/robofest/index.htm

The ROBOFEST NYC scholarship will cover the cost of a team coach for 8 sessions and the competition registration fee.

To apply, please submit the name of the school or organization at which your team will be based, contact info for the team organizer, and a brief summary (500 words or less) of why you think your team should be chosen to receive this scholarship. All applications are due by March 12th and should be submitted to Emilie Reiser at emilie@vemny.org. No experience in Robotics necessary!
Questions? Please contact Emilie Reiser at 212.245.0444.

Teams Registered so far for Javits (as of March 1)
Team Number Team Name School/Org Borough Contact
3874 Ryan Lions JHS 216 George Ryan Q Peter Xanthus
1435 Pack-A-Watt Packer Collegiate Institute K Maureen Reilly
3840 Cyberbots Brics-2-Bots Q Veryl Greene
5285 Mott Hall III Lego Legends Mott Hall III Bx Kelly Vaughan
1965 Epiphany1 IS 72 SI Randi Huss/Danny Colasanto
983 NXT 193 P.S. 193K K Stacy Solomon
6292 Warbots Cambria Center for the Gifted Child Q Sheryl Liles
189 Robotnics Automotive High School K Bruce Rajswasser
196 Solargy IS 123 Bx Chris Gooding
2395 Robo Fusion 192 Renaissance Middle School/ I. S. 192 Q Eric Greene
5689 WWW.Robokids.com P.S. 81 K Everbell Boampong-Bishop
5703 TechnoBots Aspire Preparatory Middle School (MS322x) Bx Deborah Ogedengbe
6814 Phipps Lego Team Phipps Community Development Corp. @ P.S. 112 Bx Matthew Miller
2132 The Ridder Kids Hermann Ridder Intermediate School 98 Bx Harold Smith
4719 The Epiphany School M Christine Cook-Alvarez
1634 Team X IS 190 Bx Maribeth Whitehouse
5672 Ridgefield Robotics Slocum-Skewes Middle School NJ Joan Furman
5673 Ridgefield Robotics Slocum-Skewes Middle School NJ Joan Furman
7100 BX Ryders I.S. 162 Bx Charl Castelyn
5618 LAMChops 1 Louis Armstrong Middle School (IS 227Q) Q Richard B. Akalsk
5619 LAMChops 2 Louis Armstrong Middle School (IS 227Q) Q Richard B. Akalsk
5744 Energy All-Stars P.S. 108x Bx Vanessa Jones
1673 Molecules PS 195 Bx Zelma Torres-Rosado
5522 IS 52 Inwood MS M Adaliz Gonzalez-Medaglia
5115 Thing 1 Manhattan East M Ms. Cancel
5116 Thing 2 Manhattan East M Ms. Cancel
1468 Warbots MS 50k K Reginald Wilborn Jr.
7289 PS 196x Bx Gladys Bharath

If you want to be removed from this list type "unsubscribe" in the subject area and hit return. If you already asked and it didn't happen yet, ask again as sometimes I get behind in paperwork.

Compiled by Norm Scott
NYCFIRST Registration coordinator
norscot@aol.com
normsco@gmail.com
917-992-3734

--
Have a good day

Norm

Summer Robotics program-Instructor needed

Hi Norm,

I got your contact info from Gary Israel. Our organization received a small grant to run a robotics program this year. We are hoping to integrate lego robotics into our summer camps for middle school aged kids and are looking for a qualified instructor. I am wondering if you might be interested in that position or, since Gary mentioned you have a robotics blog, if you can help get that word out.

Talia Nagar
Director of Program Development
Phipps Community Development Corporation
(212) 243-9090, ext. 364
http://www.phippsny.org/pcdc.html

Scholarship Opportunity for Spring Robotics

At SONY Wonder, April 12, 2008.

Contact Emilie at Vision Ed: 212-245-0444

Seminars to help new FLL teams

The Office of Instructional Technology of Brooklyn is offering seminars to help new FLL teams.
The classes are held on Saturdays around the city. I am teaching one that ends March 18. There will be a second set of seminars starting Saturday, March 29. The class is Queens is held in PS 147. Below is the link to register. Teachers are paid per session to attend!

They are also looking for an instructor. I can't teach that one because of the work I am doing with the District 24 and 32 grants. The teacher is paid per session and an hour a week prep time. I can show anyone interested what I did.

If you have any questions, just ask me.

http://www.oitlive.com/6151082774818893/cwp/view.asp?A=3&Q=282705&C=52119

Mike Koumoullos
Aviation HS
mike@koumoullos.com