Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 31, 2010

6

EDUCATION & YOUTH

Mountain Views News Saturday, July 31, 2010

La Salle’s Robotics Team Places Second in Regional Tournament

SCHOOL DIRECTORY


Pasadena, CA – Recently, the La 
Salle Robotics Team ventured to 
Chula Vista, California for the 
Regional Robotics Tournament. 
The Lancers earned a second 
place victory out of 24 schools 
in the meet. A most remarkable 
feat since all the schools, 
except La Salle, fielded multiple 
teams. In addition, the La Salle 
Robotics team, composed of 
Anna Rapacz, Aviana Kase, Tiffany 
Lao, Kenny Ma, Andrew 
Linaac, Darius Salehipour Randal 
Dominguez, James Lapsys, 
Mason Sedlik, Matt Godshall, 
Kenny Caldwell and Ian Ferhing, 
qualified for national competition 
in Dallas, Texas, but 
previous engagements prevented 
the team from going to The 
Nationals. “We expect to make 
some real noise next year,” commented 
Mr. Roy Chang, moderator 
of the Robotics Team. 
If you want a blow-by-blow 
account of the two days event 
there is a link to a YouTube 
video http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=iG_8aqaHjD. 

 To say La Salle was 
the underdog would be an 
understatement. The typical 
team at the competition had 
three to six months to prepare 
for this event. La Salle had 
just five weeks due to the time 
frame of our grant approval, 
and the team was just one of 
two “first-time” teams. “Most 
teams had multiple back-up 
battery packs. We had only the 
set that came with our base 
tournament kit. Some teams 
had “omni-wheels”, compressed 
air cylinders, high-strength 
gears with glossy anodized 
aluminum parts. We had none 
of those things,” said Chang. 
Even the original supplied 
computer program had major 
glitches. But the team quickly 
learned that the computer 
language used in our Robotics 
course was also allowed. 
“Our two programmers were 
able to knock-out a short 
autonomous routine on the 
fly that, in my opinion, was 
the most efficient program 
in the entire competition,” 
said Chang. This program 
routinely won the team points 
in the first 20 seconds when 
only autonomous routines 
are allowed. As the event 
progressed the students 
learned quickly that it was not 
enough that our robot was 
better than the others. Due 
to the “cooperative” nature of 
the competition (teams are 
always paired with another 
team at random and the actual 
competition is always 2 vs. 
2) we lost two matches in the 
qualification rounds, both due 
to our partner’s robots inability 
to move at all. After the team’s 
two losses our programmers 
and engineers proceeded to 
communicate in advance of 
matches with our partners 
and, in some cases, literally 
reprogrammed and rebuilt our 
partner teams’ robots. The team 
finished qualification rounds 
with a score of 7-2-0. It could 
very well have been 9-0-0. The 
playoff rounds were played in 
teams again and suffice it to 
say that due to the convoluted 
nature of the choosing process 
La Salle ended up with one 
competent partner robot but 
one very poorly designed 
robot. “The kids had a chance 
to “partner-up” with teams that 
clearly would have given us a 
bigger advantage, however, they 
made a commitment to certain 
teams earlier and picked their 
partner teams with the utmost 
integrity. Winning was great 
but the way the team conducted 
themselves was my proudest 
moment,” gushed Chang. 
To make things even more 
interesting, in the semi-final 
round, the Lancers competed 
against the team that reneged on 
their initial promise to “partner” 
with us. Team 8888 (that was 
La Salle’s team number) beat 
the team from Murrieta Valley 
2 rounds to 1. The final round 
was less dramatic. We couldn’t 
quite overcome the flaws of our 
partner robot, but even with the 
flawed design our alliance did 
incredibly well.

Alverno High School

200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Ann M. Gillick 

E-mail address: agillick@alverno-hs.org

Arcadia High School

180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007

Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: David L. Vannasdall

Arroyo Pacific Academy

41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca, 

(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil Clarke

E-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org

Barnhart School

240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 446-5588 Head of School: Joanne Testa Cross

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.com 

Bethany Christian School

93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

Carden of the Foothills School

429 Wildrose Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 626/358-9414 
626/358-5164 fax office@cardenofthefoothills.com

The Gooden School

192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-2410 Head of School: Patty Patano

website: www.goodenschool.org

High Point Academy

1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road

Pasadena, Ca. 91107

626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 Principal: Patrick Bonacci

website: www.lasallehs.org

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2000, email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us

Norma Coombs Alternative School

2600 Paloma St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 798-0759 Principal: Dr. Vanessa Watkins 

E-mail address: watkins12@pusd.us

Odyssey Charter School

725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001

(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neill

website: www.odysseycharterschool.org

Pasadena High School

2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 798-8901 Principal: Dr. Derick Evans

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave. Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 website: www.pusd@pusd.us

St. Rita Catholic School

322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-9028 Principal: Joanne Harabedian

website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

E-mail address:gbluemel220@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

Contact person: Garrett Newsom, Asst. Principal

E-mail address: gbluemel220@pusd.us

Weizmann Day School

1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 797-0204

Lisa Feldman: Head of School

Wilson Middle School

300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth Esseln

E-mail address: resseln@pusd.us

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981

Website: www.pusd@pusd.us

THE LANCER ROBOTICS TEAM. from left, Aviana 
Kase, Matt Godshall, Mason Sedlik, (with 2nd. Place 
Trophy), Kenny Ma, Darius Salehipour, Andrew Linaac, 
James Lapsys, Randal Dominguez, Anna Rapacz and 
Moderator, Roy Chang. Not pictured Tiffany Lao, Ian 
Ferhing and Kenny Caldwell.


La Salle’s 8888 robot.

Sierra Madre Community Foundation Goes To The Movies

 
Members of the Sierra Madre Community 
Foundation were on hand at Wednesday’s 
Summer Movie Night at the Sierra Madre 
Aquatic Center to present a grant to the Center. 
The money will help fund the program that is 
free to children and families. 

 The Sierra Madre Community Foundation 
(SMCF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization 
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in 
Sierra Madre for the benefit of all residents. 
SMCF does this by helping individuals, 
businesses, and organizations maximize 
their long-term philanthropic impact on the 
community, and by supporting the programs 
and projects of Sierra Madre nonprofits and 
community groups. Community groups can 
apply for funding for a project or program 
through SMCF’s competitive grant process, 
or work with SMCF on establishing their own 
special projects fund. Gifts to SMCF from 
individuals, businesses and organizations are 
tax-deductible and support the grants that 
the Foundation makes in the areas of Civic 
Improvement, Environment, Learning & the 
Arts, and the Library. SMCF is run by an all-
volunteer Board of Directors made up of Sierra 
Madre residents. Giving to SMCF means you 
are giving to the long term future of Sierra 
Madre.

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the 
Sierra Madre Community Foundation. Over the years the Foundation has helped support a variety of community projects including 
the creation of Goldberg Park, the expansion of the Library’s permanent collection, and many others. The Foundation recently elected 
three new members to its Board of Directors – Chad Bernard, Erica Blodgett, and Judy Kendall. The Board of Directors oversees the 
Foundation’s financial operations, generates interest in and support for the Foundation, and seeks out and approves opportunities for the 
Foundation to make grants to help projects that align with the Foundation’s areas of focus in the community

All movies at the Sierra Madre Aquatic Center will begin at 8:00pm and will finish at 9:45pm. The Sierra Madre Aquatic Center is located 
at 611 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Please be sure to arrive early, as maximum capacity may be reached at the Aquatic 
Center. For more information on the Sierra Madre Aquatic Center Summer Movie Nights, please contact the Community and Personnel 
Services Department at 626-355-5278. 

From Left to right: Kristi McClure Director of Community and Personnel Services 
City of Sierra Madre,Erica Blodgett,SMCF Board Member, Judy Kendall SMCF 
Board Member,Bill Messersmith SMCF Board Member, Robert Stockly SMCF 
President Photo by Lina Johnson


Fun with Sign Language for 
Children at the Library

An Introduction to ASL for Hearing 
Children

Emmy-Lou Thomas-Smith, teacher 
of “My Smart Hands” children’s sign 
language classes, will share her expertise 
with parents and young children in an 
active and fun program at the Sierra 
Madre Public Library’s Preschool 
Storytimes on Monday, August 16 at 
10:00 a.m. and Wednesday, August 18 
at 7:00 p.m. 

 Ms. Thomas-Smith, a Sierra Madre 
resident, is herself hard of hearing, 
and teaches “My Smart Hands” and 
“Sing & Sign” classes using American 
Sign Language for hearing children. 
Although most babies start talking 
between 1 and 2 years of age, they 
are able to understand and want to 
communicate much earlier. Because 
they have control over their hands 
before they develop verbal skills, 
signing helps them express what they 
are not yet able to say, which has the 
added benefit of reducing frustration 
and temper tantrums.

 Emmy-Lou explains, “Research shows 
that babies who use sign tend to speak 
and read sooner and have larger 
vocabularies. Signing gives them a 
bridge of meaningful communication 
while they transition to speaking 
language. Our mission is to bring to 
parents, educators and children a better 
understanding of the value of visual 
communication early in life.” 

 In addition to the special presentation, 
each storytime will also include the 
regular program of stories, songs and 
crafts.

 The Sierra Madre Public Library 
is located at 440 West Sierra Madre 
Boulevard in Sierra Madre. For more 
information please call (626) 355-7186, 
or visit our website at www.sierramadre.
lib.ca.us. This program is free and open 
to the public.


Do you have to many books at home? Wondering 
what to do with them? Come to The Book Rack and 
trade them in for a book you have not read.
We have 1000's used and New books for 
your reading pleasure.
204 S. First AveArcadiawebsite: bookrackarcadia.comPhone 626-446-2525