Young Inventors Fair & AT&T Spirit of Innovation Youth Challenge - May 16, 2012

On May 16, 2012, Cross Keys High School will be hosting DeKalb's 1st Annual Young Inventors Fair open to students from all public schools in DeKalb County.

Please spread the word about this amazing opportunity for our DeKalb public school students from the 4th - 12th grade. I telegraphed to this blog this past summer that the Cross Keys Foundation would be working hard to support the initiation of DeKalb's 1st Annual Young Inventors Fair. At the time, I had no idea what an exciting form the project would take with our support and a commitment from Career Technology administration. DeKalb County is really going to turn some heads with this event!

For me, the most exciting part is the "AT&T Spirit of Innovation" section of the Fair. AT&T has agreed to supply 40 units of a custom Arduino-based kit. Arduino is an open hardware initiative that has captured the interest of engineers at AT&T. They are proto-typing a special purpose AT&T Arduino board for use in public education initiatives. The videos embedded in this post contain samples of creative uses of Arduino hardware.

In addition, the company formerly known as, "Ma Bell," has provided training to a dozen Cross Keys manufacturing students on the Arduino product so they, in turn, can provide two workshops for DeKalb students who would like to enter in the special section of the fair, "AT&T Spirit of Innovation." All-in-all this is a very exciting and cutting edge program and truly a ONCE IN A LIFETIME opportunity for our young people.

Entrants in this special section must attend one of the upcoming CKF-sponsored and CK-student lead workshops in February. Below is the detailed announcement - make sure your schools' kids take advantage of this and let's all meet at CKHS this May to see what they innovate!

The Young Inventor Program for Dekalb County Schools and AT&T Innovation Youth Challenge

PURPOSE
The Young Inventors Program and AT&T Innovation Youth Challenge is intended to stimulate interest in the study of science, technology, engineering and math by supporting a student Invention & Innovation Program in Dekalb County Schools. These programs involve students in grades 4 – 12 in hands on science, technology, engineering and math activities.

YOUNG INVENTORS PROGRAM

During the 2012 Spring Semester the Cross Keys Manufacturing Center will invite students to submit proposals for inventions they will develop and build during the 2012 Spring Semester. The deadline for the proposals will be March 29, 2012. These will be accepted on a first come first serve basis. The Young inventors Fair will serve grades 4 – 8 in the Middle School Division and grades 9-12 in the High School Division.

“Dekalb County Young inventors Fair”

 (See  AT&T Spirit of Innovation Youth Challenge Application and Rubric/Judges Worksheet) 

Grades 4 – 8 in the Middle School Division Forty Applicants ONLY

Deadline 03/29/12

Grades 9 – 12 in the High School Division Forty Applicants ONLY

Deadline 03/29/12

==============================================

“AT&T Innovation Youth Challenge”

(see AT&T Spirit of Innovation Youth Challenge Application) 

Grades 4 – 8 in the Middle School Division Twenty Applicants ONLY

Deadline 03/29/12

Grades 9 – 12 in the High School Division Twenty Applicants ONLY

Deadline 03/29/12

The Young Inventors Fair will be held in the Gym at Cross Keys High School on May 16, 2012.

Set-up will start on May 15th at 4:00pm – 6:00pm. All participants must complete set-up and receive a judge interview time for the following day no later than 6:00pm. Judging will start at 8:00am – 1:00pm and the fair will be open for the public from 2:00 pm – 4:00pm. The Awards Ceremony will begin at 4:00pm.

The Young Inventors Program and AT&T Innovation Youth Challenge will honor the achievements of the Dekalb County students by providing a public venue for the young inventors to display their inventions and receive awards. Official judges drawn both from Dekalb County teachers / college professors / and the surrounding Engineering / Manufacturing community will select winners of the Fair. If any student project is determined to be “Patentable” this invention will receive donated patent attorney services. The inventor is required to pay all filing fees.

AT&T Innovation Youth Challenge Purpose
To create a specialized, competitive “AT&T Innovation Youth Challenge” section in the First Annual DeKalb County Public Schools “Youth Inventors' Fair” in May 2012. This will amplify the impact of the power of open hardware, AT&T's commitment to education, and the energy of youths' inventiveness. The Cross Keys Foundation seeks to demonstrate the ease-of-use of the Spirit of Innovation Kit and to encourage youth interest in technology.

The event will have two main sections, one for 4-8th grade and a second for 9-12th grade. The Foundation and our partners will provide promotion of the event, logistical support, recruit judges, and raise scholarship funds as awards for the event winners.

“The Spirit of Innovation Youth Challenge” Will encompass a maximum of 20 middle school and 20 high school entrants. The section would be limited to those with viable “Spirit of Innovation Kit”-based projects and would have a separate set of awards from the general sections of the competition.

By generating community and media interest in the event and AT&T's commitment the innovation process, the Foundation will raise awareness about the need for and the opportunities in technology education.

The Foundation is seeking the incremental funding necessary to sponsor scholarship prizes for the three students judged to have the winning inventions in each section, 4-8th and 9-12th and the proposed “Spirit of Innovation” section. Our goal would be to provide 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place scholarship awards in each section.

Participants in the “Spirit of Innovation Youth Challenge” will be required to attend a three hour workshop at Cross Keys Manufacturing Center. Two workshops are scheduled:

Thursday 02/09/12 4:30-7:30pm

Thursday 02/16/12 4:30-7:30pm.

At these workshops students will receive the ”Spirit of Innovation” project Kit and training on how to use the kits to enter the Competition.

Cross Keys Manufacturing - Preparing Students for the 21st Century Workplace

RAMP Comes to Cross Keys to Serve Area High Schoolers

I am privileged to be the first to let you know about an amazing program to be launched this fall at Cross Keys HS that is available to students from Dunwoody HS, Chamblee Charter HS, Cross Keys HS, Tucker HS, Lakeside HS, Clarkston HS, and Druid Hills HS. The Remote Automation Management Project (RAMP) will be offered via a partnership between DeKalb County Schools and Moultrie Tech.

Moultrie Tech is only the second site in the United States to become a platform for this type of innovative instructional support for robotics and automation. Cross Keys HS is the second site in Georgia to become part of the Moultrie program (I believe Forsyth may be the first).

A nationally recognized instructor, Patrick Gunter, has been hired by DCSS and assigned to Cross Keys to lead the class on site. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gunter on the day of his contract signing and can tell you that he is the sort of mentor and thought leader to which you want your kids to have access. Students will also have video conferencing access to Moultrie Tech faculty for support of their hands-on work with a $40,000 piece of SMC Corp robotics.

How cool is that? Check out the video below for in-depth look at how RAMP works in high schools.


The instructional leader in the video, Mr. Estes, met with Mr. Gunter recently at Cross Keys to make arrangements for the robotics and video conferencing equipment to be placed at the school.

Mr. Patrick Gunter, CK's newest teacher, is an advisor for the the Georgia Institute of Technology's "Solar Jackets," award-winning solar car design team and is exploring the possibility of starting a high school car team. Stay tuned to CK Foundation's Facebook Page or web site for more details but spread the word by sharing this unique educational opportunity with your neighbors NOW! I asked Mr. Gunter what sort of pre-requisites he had for working with students (math, sciences, etc.) and he looked at me without hesitating and said, "Work ethic."

Mr. Gunter notes, “There just aren’t enough high school students choosing technology-related majors when going to college. Most students who would qualify to major in Engineering lack interest in the field. Robotics has a strong appeal to today’s students, and these competitions use robotics as a very powerful platform to attract students to the study of science and technology.” Mr. Gunter plans to foster a top-notch robotics team at Cross Keys starting this year. With many regional, national, and international wins under his belt, he is quite serious about the prospects for a CK-based team.

CALL your home high school counselling office or CK's at 678-874-6102 for registration details! What an extraordinary opportunity to work side-by-side with an exceptional engineer like Mr. Gunter. Spread the word and let's make this opportunity available to as many young people as possible!



READ about the RAMP program from Moultrie Tech.

Civil Disobediance for Higher Education?

This is a mistake, a really big mistake. I should keep my mouth shut.

I'm already pilloried in some quarters for advocating for the students of Cross Keys High School attendance area. A well understood secret is that some of the resentment coming my way is due to the fact that a percentage of these young people are either illegal immigrants, a.k.a. undocumented students, or have family members who are in this category.

The "immigration issue" has been heating to a boil for many years. It is boiling over now partly due to the economy slowing down, partly due to a spurt in xenophobia, and partly due to the very large population growth among undocumented immigrants (do you prefer "illegal aliens?" ... that's ok.) in our midst. I also believe it also is boiling over at this time because we are seeing 2nd and 3rd generation illegals and a minority group feeling empowered by the 2010 Census results.

Don't misunderstand me, I do think we have a really big problem on our hands with our borders and immigration policies. However, I don't think there are any easy solutions and I think too many want to ignore the real complications. Our current, ridiculous state is the result of decades of neglect by our leaders and the full weight of the serious issues involved is now bearing down on the shoulders our children.

In this writing, I'm narrowly addressing the issue of public education as it relates to these realities. The more large and ugly debate about immigration reform and illegals in our society is for another forum.

These are kids who are 100% American in their upbringing, interests, education, tastes, and dreams but who are also here undocumented, ok ... illegally. They have the same expectations and hopes as their more papered peers at our public schools. One thing they do have in perhaps greater measure than their peers is pride and courage.

I see this every day in the young people I have the privilege of meeting at Cross Keys, Sequoyah, and the five elementary schools feeding into them. In the elementary schools, I see in the young faces the same things I see in all children in our community - silliness, wonder, energy, excitement, hope, and sometimes sadness. Their older siblings at the middle and high school navigate through the same troubling and exhilarating processes of adolescence as every other kid in this most-blessed country.

But I have noticed a change in the older ones over the past two years or so. They are more discouraged, more despairing, and troubled about their future and the future for their younger brothers and sisters. Things that they may have taken for granted or glazed over at the ages of five, or eight, or twelve are now staring  them square in the face - how will you complete your education? If you leave the country for education, will you be separated from your sisters forever and miss their quinceañera, their first date, or kiss or car?

Many of the undocumented students are Mexican by cultural heritage but make no mistake - this issue is not limited to our amigos hailing from Mexico, Central America and South America. We have families from every continent on the globe making their way into the USA without papers. So what do we do with their children? Year after year, and now generation after generation, our public schools have encouraged them to educate themselves and chase their own piece of the American Dream.

The have spent their entire lives elevating their minds and aspirations through education only to discover that they are no longer welcome in much of our country and now in Georgia unwelcome in many of our schools. Closing off avenues to public universities has slammed the door shut on many of these young people who want to finish their education in Georgia and become productive members of the community.

And then today, I saw this video. A group of graduates staged a protest on April 5th at Georgia State University by blocking the road. Seven of them were arrested. The first one arrested appeared to be wearing the bright yellow cap of a Cross Keys graduate. Her name, ironically, is Georgina. These types of demonstrations are increasing in frequency and in volume all over the country. My reaction was, "How tragic and how beautiful!"

These young people are disrupting traffic to demand access to higher education! What the hell? I wish all of our young people had this level of dedication to educating themselves or the courage and passion to fight for their siblings and their futures, too.

But then again, perhaps I'm just making a really, really big mistake ...