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First Lego League Robots at Hale
Contributed by: Pam Vetter

10/18/06 Valley News Article

For the first time, Hale Middle School has its first Lego Robotics club, where children are learning to design, build, and program robots to compete against other school teams.

Ray Straub, Communications and Education Chair of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, started the club at Hale, where his daughter attends school. Straub also oversees a similar program at El Camino High School.

"This is an important program which will help inspire future scientists and engineers. The kids develop analytical and thinking skills. They're exposed to many facets of engineering, technology and science," Straub said. "The entire program is project based and I enjoy seeing creative minds unleashed. The kids are self-motivated to explore and ask questions."

The first Robotics Tournament the Hale club faces will be held Saturday, November 11th, 2006,in Santa Clarita. There are 18 teams participating from San Fernando Valley schools.

"I hope the kids get a love of learning for science and technology. It will help them apply what they learn to their future studies," Straub explained.

Charlotte Mitchell, Club Advisor and Computer Teacher at Hale, was brought into the club by Straub. "Ray is a great parent and mentor for the children. He asked me to get involved because I love computers, I love programming, and honestly, the kids have the opportunity to learn about Nanotechnology, which is cutting edge," Mitchell said. "The kids get to think outside the box, or outside the Lego, as the case may be."

"The curriculum is outstanding. In this club, the results are based on how you work as a team. You learn how to listen to each other. We have groups of researchers, builders, and programmers who have to work together," Mitchell explained. "Lightbulbs start to go off and now we have mentors in the classroom. The legacy we're creating is 100 fold."

In fact, Hale Middle School Principal Neil Siegel is 100% in support of the program. Currently, the club is looking for a business, businesses, or individuals who are interested in supporting science and technology, to sponsor them so they can continue to learn beyond the tournament.

"The kids love this program. Their team name is RoboKids and we want to reach more kids, beyond the competitive season," Mitchell said.

Jared Wardak, 12, explained the whole essence of the club. "We design and build a robot. Then, we race our robot against other robots to complete a series of tasks. The robot to complete the tasks in the fastest time is the winner," Wardak said.

Builder Max Roberson, 11, loves the club. "I have a giant tub of Legos at home. I get Lego magazine. I read about Mindstorm technologies. I love it and I'm really interested," Roberson said.

Yanir Regev, 11, is also in the builder group. "I like building things. I have a lot of drawers of Legos at home. It's fun and I like the idea of building a robot," Regev explained.

Builder Melayna Moore, 12, is one of only three girls registered in the class of thirty-two children. "It's fun. I like building. It sounded cool so I joined," Moore said. "I've been building with Legos since I was 2-years-old. I'd make amazing cars, I'd build towers, or I'd build robots and make them battle each other. This club is great!"

Programmer Mark Iskandar, 13, enjoys the club as well. "When I came here, I was interested in programming. I like programming and drawing. It's fun," Iskandar said.

Logan Gerber, 11, is busy with the building. "I'm a builder. I've always liked the sport of building," Gerber said.

Researcher Pamela Esquivel, 10, loves learning. "I've learned all about Nanotechnology. It's easy to understand once you start the research. We get information to do the project for building a presentation," Esquivel explained. "And, it's cool!"

If you're interested in being a sponsor of the First Lego League at Hale Middle School, please contact Club Advisor Charlotte Mitchell by calling Hale (818) 313-7400 or Parent/Mentor Ray Straub (818) 730-6962.

For more information on the First Lego Leagues around the nation link to www.FirstLegoLeague.org.

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