WHS Robotics Team 1153 Places 7th at World Championships

I am a mentor for the WHS Robotics team, and have been for the past 9 years.  This was an interesting year for us as we had a difficult start, but a very strong finish.  I am extremely proud of the kids from WHS and how they worked extra hard after a tough start at WPI and earned their way into the Elite 8 at the World Championships out of 400 teams from all over the world. Here is a recap of our year. - Mark Gallivan

WPI
We started the year with our first competition at WPI where our shooter broke, and we finished out of the playoffs.  But we did win the prestigious "Industrial Design Award" sponsored by General Motors

Northeastern

The kids did a great job during the 10 days before our next competition at Northeastern and completely re-designed and built a brand new shooter.  When they arrived at NU, they had to scramble to put the new shooter on the robot.  At NU we ranked #5 after qualifying rounds, and lost in the semi-finals.  Again we had a strong engineering showing and earned the prestigious "Excellence in Engineering" Award sponsored by Delphi

New England Championship - BU

Our strong showing at NU and winning the 2 awards,  earned us the last invite to the New England Championship at BU.  We were clearly an underdog at this point having earned the 53rd invite.    The team had a strong showing, ranked #2 after qualifying rounds and losing in the quarter-finals.  Again we were recognized as an outstanding team and earned the "Gracious Professionalism Award" sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. 

World Championship - Edward Jones Dome St.Louis

Again with a strong showing at the New England Championships we earned one of the last invites to the World Championship in St Louis.  The team was on a roll and earned a #2 ranking in our bracket of 100 teams.  Winning the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals before losing in the finals.  They battled hard, showed Walpole pride and finished #7 in the World.

Also - here is a video of us in the New England Championship.  We are team 1153.  We are the 1st robot with red bumpers on the right.  In the first 10 seconds we score a goal worth 20 points in autonomous mode - which means that the robot is not being driven by the kids, but has been programmed to use sensors [light sensors, encoders, color camera] to drive over the white line - get close to the wall, and shoot when the goal is lit up yellow for bonus points.  After that first shot, the kids then take control and drive the robot. 

Distance Learning at Fisher School

On January 30th, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston connected with a fifth grade art class in a 45 minute inquiry –based conversation. The topic of the discussion “Highlights of the Art of the Americas” explores three centuries of American art, from the earliest Colonial portraits to the history paintings of the early 19th century, and how that art reflected how Americans perceived themselves. Students saw examples of paintings, including the Museum’s collection of works by John Singleton Copley, and decorative arts from that time period that reflect those changes. Using a Safari Montage Live Platform, students were engaged in a dynamic conversation and demonstrated enthusiasm as they applied their recent research of an American Art Web quest to this program. This experience also connects with the fifth grade Social Studies and Visual Art curriculum.

Joanne Hirschfield (image courtesy of MFA Boston)

Oaxacan Wood Carvers

The Middle Schools were pleased to welcome, once again, the Margarita’s Education Outreach Program. Wood carvers from Oaxaca (pronounced wa-hah-ke), Mexico came to both BMS and JMS. They spent the day talking with the Spanishes classes and demonstrating their wood carving skills. Epifanio Fuentes and his wife Laurencia Santiago work together with their children and grandchildren to carve and paint these beautiful sculptures. They spent the day carving an armadillo for the school and talking about their folk art and way of life. They will be at Margarita’s in Framingham Wednesday October 30 from 4pm-9pm. More videos can be found on Señorita Loughlin’s JMS webpage.

Oaxacan Wood Carvers 2013 - slideshow

Emily Loughlin

BMS Wins 2nd Place at Invention Convention

Bird Middle School’s Project Invention Convention team, coached by Mr. Kujawski, took home second place in this year’s Project Invention Convention by creating the Rain Catcher 9000. As participants in Bridgewater State University’s Project Invention Convention for the past five year, Bird Middle School students have been imagining and creating ingenious inventions that solve everyday problems. This year’s team comprised of eighth graders Jake Witherell, Dan Mullen, Gabby Eisenberg, Ryan Merrikin, Tommy Wilbur and seventh grader Aiden Murphy created two inventions: The Food Safe Dispenser and The Rain Catcher 9000. The Food Safe Dispenser was created to curb the rising numbers in childhood obesity. It enables parents to lock junk food and other unhealthy snacks and regulate how much their child receives. Unfortunately, this invention did not place, but it was a great idea nonetheless. The Rain Catcher 9000—a device that consists of a head umbrella with a gutter system around the edges, which is then attached to a backpack with a water collection reservoir—allows people in developing countries to collect clean drinking water, especially during monsoon seasons. The judges found this device to be worthy of a second place award. Congratulations to the 2013 Invention Convention participants—we are so proud of you.

WHS Film Festival Wraps Up

After a week of film showings the WHS Film Festival concluded with another fabulous red carpet awards night. The film "Alby" was the big winner overall snagging 5 of the possible 9 awards including the award for best film. Jackie Gately who wrote, directed and starred in the film, took home the award for best actor and Caleb Cofsky won for best supporting actor in the film. The coveted "Best Faculty Performance" was awarded to Mr. O'Malley for his portrayal in the superhero movie, "The Wombat."

The goal of the Film Festival is to give the students of Walpole High the artistic avenue of film as an outlet for them to enhance their talents in screenwriting, film production, film directing, film editing, on-screen acting, music composition, and art direction. The Film Festival gives these students a forum to showcase these talents before the student body and community. - www.whsfilfmestival.com

Some of the initial funding for the WHS Film Festival was provided by a grant from the Walpole Technology and Innovation Foundation. Over the past decade, support has come from generous donations from families as well as sponsorships from local businesses in the community.

Artist from Mexico Visits JMS

On Monday May 6, 2013 Mexican artist Cilau Valadez came to JMS to share some culture with the students in Spanish classes. Margarita's Restaurant Education Outreach Program sponsors artists and brings them to schools all over New England to talk about the art, history, and cultures of Mexico. This year the artist was Cilau Valadez and he is a yarn painter. Cilau and his people, the Huichol (wee-chol) Indians, are from Nayarit on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The symbols of their art work have many meanings and the art he created for JMS represents the doorway of knowledge that our students enter into when they attend school each day. The video below describes how he makes the yarn paintings and offers an up close look at the painting he created for JMS. More videos can be found on Señorita Loughlin's website. Thank you to Margarita's restaurant and JMS PAC for making this opportunity possible for our students.

Emily Loughlin

Spanish Teacher

Boys track retains Herget title

From the Walpole Times online:

Walpole 74, Norwood 62: Boys track retains Herget title