SJS Robotics Team Gets Ready to Compete

Our big robotics competition is Saturday, and the Robotics Team is hard at work getting ready.

This is our robot, which the students named Karl the Kraken. Our league uses Lego Mindstorms robots to perform tasks on a 4x8 foot playing field. All of the objects needed for the tasks are also made out of Legos.

Here is our scrimmage held last Sunday at St. Joseph H.S. This event gave our team a chance to practice under the same conditions as the real competition. The referees checked our robot to make sure that we followed all the design rules required for our competition.

We only have two and a half minutes to complete as many tasks as possible. Each task earns a different number of points. Here, Josh and Robby are getting the robot set up.

Our team has three chances to run the robot and we are judged based on our top score. Every round we have a different team of students operating the robot.

On Sunday, our team also had a chance to practice giving our project presentation. The scrimmage judges said that we had interesting ideas and a polished presentation. We can't wait to wow the competition judges next Saturday!

This diorama shows our proposed solution, a hydroponics garden that uses its waste water to grow algae biofuel.

 Tamia is working on a model of our proposed system for growing algae. The device is called an algal turf scrubber. Green yarn represents algae. The algae grows on a plastic mesh and can be easily removed for harvesting. When the algae has cleaned the water, it is safe to release into the environment.

Zumba Kids Club

Zumba Kids Club has had two meetings so far and the children are absolutely loving the music and dance moves!  We are having fun and getting some exercise!  The kindergarten and first grade Zumba members sure do have some great moves!  Check us out!

Robotics Club Practice

St. James Robotics Club meets three times a week as we prepare for our competition with The First Lego League.  

 Tamia and Mia are working on the display board.  They are researching Hydroponics and waste water use.
 The display board will be used for our project demonstration at the competition.  We plan on including a diorama of hydroponics.

Students work on the robot.  Robbie is reading the rules to modify the robot with Paul and Michael.  The robot is programmed using an ipad.  The students program the robot to perform specific tasks to compete in the competition.

Josh Yap and Josh Hebbe are writing the script from our research.  Our students attended class trips and had engineers visit to discuss our project.  Students read books, watched videos and used web resources to learn.  The members brainstormed the topic and each picked an area to research.

Our Robot!

Robotics Club EcoComplex Tour

The SJS Robotics team toured the Rutgers University EcoComplex to learn about their hydroponic greenhouse and their clean energy projects. Our robotics team competes in three different divisions, one requires the students to propose a solution to a real-life problem. This year the students have decided to focus their project on the waste water that comes from hydroponic greenhouses.

Robotics students interviewing the greenhouse director, David Specca. While the students are researching their project topic, they are required to interview a professional who works in the field.

The students were able to see hydroponics in action and get an idea of some of the challenges that these farmers face. Mr. Specca has worked on a range of development projects with local companies and Rutgers professors. He was able to answer the students' questions and give them new ideas to think about. The tour made their research topic come alive in a way that reading books or seeing pictures on the internet could never match.

Strategy Club

We had a very successful first meeting for our Strategy Club!  The purpose of our club is to further develop students' skills in strategical thinking.  The students play games such as chess, Stratego, Mancala, and Risk to hone their critical thinking skills.

Until Next Time,
Mrs. Rivera

Student Council

Student Council Ice Cream Sale

"I scream you scream everyone loves ice cream"

Student Council sponsored an ice cream sale for the student body.