FRIDAY FOLDER 3/19/10: A roundup of regional school news
Robotics competition set
Students from Vista Ridge and Falcon high schools will compete in the FIRST Robotics competition in Denver next week. This year’s engineering problem, created by NASA, is to use robots to kick a soccer ball into a goal. The students have two minutes to move their robots around the field. Teams are judged on how well the robot performs various tasks. Students must building their robots from kits provided by the organization.
Winners of the Denver event, which will be March 25-27, will go to national competition in April in Atlanta, Ga.
This year, more than 45,225 high school students on 1,809 teams worldwide will compete in various competitions. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 to inspire young people to participate in science and technology.
Aspen Diversified hits 1,000 GED grads
Aspen Diversified Industries’ education program will hit a milestone today with the 1,000th graduate of its GED program. The two-year-old program serves a diverse population of students in its partnerships with Pikes Peak Mental Health and other community organizations. The graduation ceremony will be at 3 p.m. today at Aspen Diversified Industries, 220 Ruskin Drive.
Chipeta principal honored
Lori Butler, principal of Chipeta Elementary School in Colorado Springs School District 11, has been named a National Distinguished Principal finalist. The award was presented Thursday by the Colorado Association of Elementary School Principals.
Era of Montera reunion set
A reunion is being planned for this summer for former Palmer High School band students and it will honor Frank Montera, band director from 1972 to 1982. The “Era of Montera” event is planned for July 23-24 in Colorado Springs. For more information, go to www.eramontera.com/.
D-20 teachers headed to east Asia
Two Academy School District 20 teachers have been chosen to study in east Asia this summer, according to a news release. Donald Spano, a social studies teacher at Challenger Middle School, will participate in a National Consortium for Teaching Asia (NCTA) study tour to Japan. Spano will study “Cultural Encounters: Japan’s Diverse Past and Present” in Tokyo, Yokahama, Kyoto, Nara, Nagasaki and Fukuoka.
Alejandro Echevarria, social studies teacher at Rampart High School, will participate in an NCTA study tour to China. He will study “China’s Southern Edge and Beyond” in Taipei, Hong Kong and Xiamen.
NCTA study tour positions are highly competitive and provide teachers and administrators with a direct knowledge and understanding of East Asia. NCTA is funded by the Freeman Foundation and coordinated by Teaching East Asia at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
