Congratulations To Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Tech Hoppers - Meet Our Local NYC First Lego League Robot Builders April 19 At Roosevelt Island Library For Awards Presentation And Demo Of Their Robot Project

The Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts Tech Hoppers competed in and won awards in the recent NYC First Lego League (FLL) Challenge robot building program. 

The Tech Hoppers were introduced by Girl Scout Troop 3233 Leader Susy del Campo Perea during the April 3 Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board of Directors meeting public session and received the congratulations of Board members.

Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Troop 3233 Leader Suzy del Campo Perea reports:

The Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Tech Hoppers invites our community, adults and youth, to the presentation of their NYC First Lego League Challenge Bronze Award Project this Wednesday April 19 from 6:15-7pm at the New York Public Library Roosevelt Island Branch (504 Main Street) .  

The Tech Hoppers will have a presentation about the renewable energy innovation project they researched, follow by Q&A and close with a showcase of the robot they built for the FLL.

When you talk or hear the word robotics in elementary or middle school, you certainly think of something very basic. maybe something like a car moving back and forth, or just a square box with a movable part up and down; and then you add competition, it sounds like faster, bigger and brighter. Then you add Legos and it sounds more exciting for kids and confusing for adults.

The Tech Hoppers is so much more than having a robot made out of Legos. It is about researching a topic given, based on the research, creating an innovation, talking to experts in the field, building a prototype based on your innovation and research, and presenting their findings to 3-5 judges during the competition. The cherry on the cake, is that they also get to build, with special Legos, a robot with 6 motors, one brain and different moving arms and parts, and then programming it to go through a map with several movable Lego structures in 2.5 min

First, the Roosevelt Island Tech Hoppers worked in the Core Values of FIRST (innovation, fun, )

Then they got the topic of Renewable Energy and started working on that Research.

At the same time they started assembling their robot and dived in programming it, testing and run it every single weekend @ Cornell Tech Café.

Not long after, they came with an innovation for renewable energy, moved from sun based solar energy to soil based microbial fuel cells.

Week after week they made progress in all 3 areas: core values, innovation and robot programming.

They wet their feet on their first competition, a scrimmage at Chapin School where they won 1st Place Core Values. They learned the rules of the game and saw their competition.

Qualifiers were held in February where they won 2nd place in Robot design and the Silver Ticket to pass to Semifinals!

By March 5th @ Semifinals the Tech Hoppers won their Golden ticket to Finals and another Core Values Trophy! They only had 7 days to polish and correct anything that will put them closer to score higher at Finals.

Finally the moment they were waiting for: compete at the Finals of FLL on March 12th, which is the equivalent of the FLL State finals.

Our very own Tech Hoppers compete against teams between 4th-8th grade, winning 2nd place Core Values!

It was indeed a sweet victory as they were the only team of Girl Scouts, and the only team with High School Coaches, instead of professional adults that have years of experience and/or professional instructors.

The Tech Hoppers wouldn’t have made it this far with out the support and partnership of GSGNY, Cornell Tech, Cornell Tech Café, their Girl Scout family members and troop sisters, and of course our Roosevelt Island Community.

The Tech Hoppers are:

• Alexa Baldwin
• Alyse MacGonagle 
• Ava Gordon 
• Chelsea Chang 
• Duygu Gurdal 
• Itziar Borja del Campo 
• Kai Putnam 
• Leire Borja del Campo 
• Madison Chang 
• Mina Kim 

Tech Hoppers Coaches: 

• Alua Zhanuzakova 
• Charlotte Peterson 

Mentors and Hosts: 

• Cornell Tech, specially Sophie Lanchez 
• Heather Smith (GSGNY Troop 3001) 
• Fay Christian (GSGNY Troop 3233) 
• Mor Naaman (Cornell Tech, GSGNY Dad) 
• Roberto Borja (NYCHA, GSGNY Dad) 

Volunteers: 

• Conall MacGonagle 
• Ender Gurdal 
• Eddie Chang 
• Jenn Chang

The Tech Hoppers name was chosen because the Girl Scouts meet and have support from Cornell Tech and in honor of Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer programming.

Learn more about NYC First Lego League Challenge robotic competition.

Amazing Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts Tech Hoppers Robotics Team Win NYC Lego Championship, On Way To World Championship Next Week With Plan For Asteroid To Mars - Honored By NY State Senator Jose Serrano With Achievement Certificate And Cited As Shining Example To All Young Women Interested In Robotics

As reported last March 18, Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Troop 3001 Tech Hoppers Robotics Team were the winners in the First Lego League NYC Robotics Championship. Girl Scout Troop 3001 Leader Aiesha Eleusizov reported at the time:

We are all still in a state of shock!! We did indeed win the NYC First LEGO League Robotics tournament today! The top two teams in NYC go to the World Championships in Detroit - It's pretty amazing!! The girls did such an amazing job!!

Last Wednesday evening April 17, during the Tech Hoppers final practice at Cornell Tech's Tata Innovation Center before heading off to the First World Championship Competition in Detroit, Roosevelt Island's NY State Senator Jose Serrano met with the Tech Hoppers team,

listened to their competition presentation on Flying An Asteroid To Mars and honored the Tech Hoppers with a Certificate Of Achievement.

According to this statement from Senator Serrano's office:

... Senator Serrano will be honoring Girl Scout Troop 3001's the Tech Hoppers, for their achievements in robotics and their first place victory in the FIRST Lego League New York City Championship. Next week, the troop is proudly headed to the worldwide FIRST Championship in Detroit, the world’s largest celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for students. The team of nine girls in the 6th and 7th grades, meets weekly at the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island, where they are mentored and coached by Cornell students and staff. In its four years, the troops robotics program has involved over 15 Girl Scouts and has never turned a girl away because of need or experience.

"As a supporter of empowering girls and women to enter STEM fields, I am very proud of the Roosevelt Island Tech Hoppers," said Senator Serrano. "They serve as a wonderful example to other young students interested in robotics, and regardless of the outcome at the world championship, they have already accomplished a tremendous achievement."

and from social media.

Today I had the privilege of visiting the @girlscoutsnyc @nycfirst #TechHoppers at @cornell_tech #RooseveltIsland as they head to the World Championship in Detroit! They’re a shining example to all young women interested in robotics and #STEM. I’m so proud of their amazing work! pic.twitter.com/vcx57ID9Vu

— Sen. Jose M. Serrano (@SenatorSerrano) April 18, 2019

“I have a tremendous amount of pride in all of you. You should aim high.” @SenatorSerrano visits @cornell_tech and our @girlscoutsnyc @nycfirst #TechHoppers as they get ready for the World Championship in Detroit. They got certificates. He got cookies 🍪 pic.twitter.com/zeHdBrLIXH

— Diane Levitt (@diane_levitt) April 17, 2019

Here's the Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Tech Hoppers practice presentation proposing their solution to the radiation problem for astronauts traveling to Mars - use an asteroid as the transportation vehicle

Here's State Senator Serrano's presentation of Achievement Certificates to the Tech Hoppers Team.



Girl Scout Troop 3001 Leader Aiesha Eleusizov adds:

I would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of our supporters -

Cornell Tech for providing the team with an amazing space, coaches and mentors – in particular, Diane Levitt and Samara Rose Selden and Cornell Tech mentors Jillian Burns, Natalie Abrams and Jivesh Tolani!

Nathalie and Ilan from Dr. Wu's lab at Cornell Tech

Talya Stein, Anne Goodfriend and Yoav Friedland from FIRST Lab for providing a welcoming space for us to practice on weekends!

Mike Sorrenti from SpaceX for mentoring and inspiring the girls on all things space-related!

Norm Sutaria and Lisa Cai from NYC FIRST

Girl Scouts of Greater New York - Abby Whipker, CEO Meredith Maskara and the Council's fabulous fundraising team, for supporting the team and sending us to Detroit!

We couldn't have accomplished so much without all of this incredible support!!

Roosevelt Island parents -

This is our local RI Girl Scout team and we are heading to Detroit next week!!! Our wonderful Girl Scout council is fundraising to pay for the entire trip!!! If you can support the team, please consider a tax deductible donation to our council!

You can follow us while we’re there on Instagram at techhoppers.

I am so proud of how hard these girls have worked!!!

If anyone is a parent of a girl that would like to be a coach next year - please reach out to me. Our incredible coach with these amazing girls want to mentor a new team next year!!

From the Girl Scouts of Greater NY:

Since 2011, Girl Scout Robotics has become an important component of our suite of STEM programs. We’re thrilled to announce that for the first time, one of our talented teams will compete in the world championships!

The Tech Hoppers of Troop 3001 won the NYC FIRST Lego League Robotics Tournament and have advanced to the international FIRST Lego League World Championships in Detroit!

After years of hard work, the Tech Hoppers from Roosevelt Island will join tens of thousands of students, educators, and STEM industry professionals at a multi-day competition this month. We could not be more proud!

We are working to raise $25,000 to send the Tech Hoppers to the Championship, and we hope friends like you will invest in these young engineers.

Will you make a gift to send this talented team to Detroit?...

Congrats to the Roosevelt Island Girls Scouts Tech Hoppers team for your achievements to date. Roosevelt Island is rooting for you in the Championships. Good Luck.

The Amazing Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts Tech Hoppers Team Win NYC First Lego League Robotics Championship Award - Next Stop, World Championship Tournament

Cornell Tech Director of K-12 Education Diane Levitt tweets yesterday:

OUR @girlscoutsnyc #TechHoppers WON THE @firstlegoleague @nycfirst CHAMPIONSHIP AWARD!!! @cornell_tech has been their sponsor for two years. I am so proud and excited! NEXT STOP DETROIT!! (still screaming. And is that not the coolest trophy EVER?) #RooseveltIsland @girlscouts pic.twitter.com/59laPdZgJD

— Diane Levitt (@diane_levitt) March 17, 2019

Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Troop 3001 Leader Aiesha Eleusizov reports:

We are all still in a state of shock!! We did indeed win the NYC First LEGO League Robotics tournament today! The top two teams in NYC go to the World Championships in Detroit -  It's pretty amazing!! The girls did such an amazing job!!

More on the amazing Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts Tech Hoppers from this May 2018 post and video.



Congrats to Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts Tech Hoppers Robotics Team.

Great job and keep coding!!!!!. 

Stay tuned for more info about the Roosevelt Island Tech Hoppers later this week.

Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts Roaring Lions Robotics Design Team Takes Third Place In NYC FIRST Lego League Tournament - Congrats!!!!!!

Roosevelt Island Junior Girl Scout Troop 3001 Leader Aiesha Eleusizov shares these photos and reports:

On Saturday February 11, Roosevelt Island's very own Girl Scout Troop 3001's team "Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island"

competed in the NYC FIRST Lego League Qualifying Tournament in Marine Park, Brooklyn! The Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island took 3rd Place in Robot Design and advanced to Semi-Finals!

The Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island team is comprised of seven fourth and fifth grade girls in Junior Girl Scout Troop 3001 - Alua Zhanuzakova, Charlotte Peterson, Jayla Davis, Lily Kalb, Louisa Ersenkal, Louise Wang, and Victoria Gorain. The volunteer coach for the team is Girl Scout leader Heather Smith.

Island Kids generously sponsored the team by providing a much needed meeting and practice location for the team. Since September, the team has met for two hours each week plus many, many weekend and holiday practices.

The FIRST Lego League competition has three parts: Robot Games, Core Values of teamwork and cooperation, and a real world Project to improve the interactions between animals and humans.Teams must perform well across all 3 categories to advance to the semi-finals.

The girls excelled in programming the robot and each girl on the team programmed their own mission, They competed against teams from all over the city - collecting points when they successfully complete missions in 2 minutes 30 seconds. The girls worked together to research and come up with a solution to the issue of having guinea pigs in small apartments by designing guinea pig multi-story "high rise" cages to give more space for the guinea pig without having the cage take up too much space. The girls created a fun skit and made up a song to explain their project to judges. The girls demonstrated their awesome teamwork and "gracious professionalism" with their positive and supportive attitude towards each other while completing teamwork challenges in front of the judges.

The Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts

made us proud with their well-planned robot missions and creative research projects! Congratulations, girls!

Great job and Congratulations Roaring Lions Junior Girl Scouts Of Roosevelt Island!!!!

The Roosevelt Island Roaring Lions were also congratulated for their efforts by the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.

This past weekend, Team Funny Bunny of Brooklyn and the Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island competed in the NYC... https://t.co/6Cxs0o6ezg

— Girl Scouts of NYC (@GirlScoutsNYC) February 14, 2017

Here's more on the First Lego League.

Roosevelt Island Youth Program Beacon After School Robot Building - Classes Held After School Monday And Thursday

The Roosevelt Island Youth Program (RIYP) reports:

RIYP Youth Program: Building a Robot in 3 minutes?

This team of three kids built a robot from parts in 3 minutes,

Image From Frank Farance

based upon Lego robots. The robotics class is part of the RIYP PS/IS 217 Beacon Program, Mondays 4-5 PM after school. There are about a dozen students in total, with robotics coach/mentor Frank Farance and science teacher Kelly Huang. Lessons and experiments based upon STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) and supportive of Core Curriculum.

On Thursday night, 7-8 PM at RIYP Youth Center (506 Main Street, 2nd floor), we have robotics and electronics. We use Lego robotics, Little Bits electronics, and some advanced robots. In this video, the RIYP kids are using the robot for the first time



and will be experimenting with Lego construction for add-on pieces/tools for the robots' missions.

Frank Farance is the instructor in video.

Contact RIYP (212 527- 2505) if you know a child interested in learning robotics.

Science Education Faltering in United States But Roosevelt Island Parents And Kids Making Extra Efforts To Learn Robotics & Computer Coding With Some Pizza Too - Will Spaceflight Be Next?

You Tube Video of Neil de Grasse Tyson On Science Education

A grim report from this October 26, 2010 New York Times editorial:

... the United States ranks 27th out of 29 wealthy countries in the proportion of college students with degrees in science or engineering, while the World Economic Forum ranked this country 48th out of 133 developed and developing nations in quality of math and science instruction....

On Roosevelt Island several concerned parents are trying to interest Roosevelt Island kids in the amazing world of science and technology every Thursday and Friday evening at the Roosevelt Island Youth Program.

 

 Image Of Frank Farance Teaching At Roosevelt Island Youth Program Robotics Class

A Roosevelt Island parent tells us about this great learning experience for kids:

Imagine a 6 year old child at the blackboard explaining how a robot sees colors, explaining it in terms of binary numbers and the logic structure to navigate. That’s the case, no joke.

The Roosevelt Island Kids Robotics Group has been meeting for several months with kids 6-12 years old. The children are of various backgrounds and maturities, and yet they treat each other as equals and teammates, each with a valuable contribution. With a 10 minute pizza break for the tummies, the two hour odyssey understanding the robot mind is then capped with each child’s one minute summary of the night. Often the insights are a short attempt to pass the ball to the next person, but periodically there’s a revelation, a true gem. By night’s end, the heads are weary and the imaginations have rebuilt computer code, and robot arms and legs, reviewed and discussed logic and all the minds have collected empirical data from running the robot. The bedroom ceilings will be covered in robots now..

“Did the robot change its stance?” “ Is it going to repeat the performance exactly the same?” “Does the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena really use Lego Robots like us?” are coursing the agile minds as they head to bed. Inspiring these thoughts is Yale-trained engineering expert Frank Farance, heretofore known as the RIRA President and weekly columnist for that much-awaited Main Street Wire column. Somehow after years of teaching robotics, Frank, aided by agile photographer and hobbyist Brian Dorfmann, has joined fledgling fun with fascinating fact, roboteers with reason, aspirants with algorithms.

Image Of Roosevelt Island Kids Learning About Science

Mssrs. Farance and Dorfmann’s ’s often hilarious antics and old yarns are a most effective way to the child imagination. They keep them laughing with a dash of humor here, a reminder of the Star Wars movie there, and Sponge Bob trivia only the most die-hard inside-baseball cartoon lover would remember. Frank is making the most arcane aspects of computer science into a pumpkin patch of science. By comparison, the classes our kids endure by day seem restrictive and elegiac march of facts and quizzes. “Can learning really be fun?”must cross their minds. But, alas the adults seem to have captured the little minds’ attention and kept them trained on learning robots for two hours. Two hours of eating candy might seem proportionally correct, but deux heures on robots?!? Yale must have had some psychology classes as well….

Maybe some time in the not so distant future the Roosevelt Island Science kids can try their hands and brains on building a spacecraft like this Brooklyn boy did with his dad.

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Wouldn't that be something?

RIRA President On Roosevelt Island Blood Drive. Lego Robots, Handrails, 311 System, Elections & Future Meetings

Image of Tram Pole From Frank Farance

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Frank Farance sends the following report to Roosevelt Island residents.

1. RIRA Blood Drive on June 19, Roosevelt Island Day. Don't forget to donate blood. Thanks to Matt Katz for organizing this.

2. RI Trambots? The RI Youth Program will be sending a team of 6-13 year olds to the NYC DYCD competition on Lego Robots. We've taken the Tram as our mascot. Wish us well!

3. A better handrail for buses, a better pool for kids. File this in the category of New Ideas From Other Places. I've had to travel recently and I discovered a 3-way handrail pole in a Swiss tram (see photo). Also from Geneva, here's a nice way to arrange a splash pond for kids in the summertime (see photo), the pool is deceptively shallow.

4. RI-311 reloaded. Aaron Hamburger, chair of RIRA's Island Services Committee, RIRA Common Counselor Joe Terranella, RIOC Board Member Jonathan Kalkin, and I will be relaunching the RI-311 system to allow you to report issues about island services. Thank you to Aaron and Jonathan for leading this effort, and thanks to Joe for helping on the web implementation. I'll have more on this in my next column.

5. RIRA elections this November. We reach out to the community to become more involved. You can volunteer to be a RIRA Common Council member. We have building-wide representatives (several for each of the housing complexes) and Island-wide representatives (President, Vice President) -- all are directly elected positions. If you'd like to see what this is like, please come to one of our meetings. It's rewarding, you get to know your neighbors and community, and you can have a positive effect on things around you.

6. Upcoming RIRA meetings. The next Common Council meeting is ... well it's summer vacation. The next meeting is on September 15 at 8:00 p.m. in the Good Shepherd Community Center; future meeting is October 6. Upcoming RIRA Town Hall meeting (in preparation for RIOC Board meetings) is on June 23 (note the new date). I am trying to arrange for a Town Hall meeting to discuss the storefronts at the June 23 meeting. The WIRE will announce this if I can get all parties at the meeting.

Splash Pond Image From Frank Farance

The RIRA President's message is also published as the RIRA column in the 6/5/10 Main Street WIRE.

RIRA President On Roosevelt Island Red Bus Routing, Tram Shutdown Transportation Problems, Next 10 Years, Robots For Kids & Adult Softball

You Tube Video of 2007 Manhattan Lego Robotics Championships

Roosevelt Island Residents Association President (RIRA) Frank Farance sends the following report to Roosevelt Island residents.

1. Routing of Buses and Main Street in Southtown area. As reported in the prior WIRE, RIOC Vice President of Operations Fernando Martinez discussed the potential rerouting at the previous RIRA meeting. This is a complex problem and RIRA's Planning Committee (Matt Katz, Chair) and Island Services Committee (Aaron Hamburger, Chair) are investigating the problems and potential solutions. More on this soon.

2. Transportation Problems with Tram Shutdown. Matt Katz, RIRA's Planning Committee Chair, has sent a letter to the MTA complaining about their ignoring our problems. I am following up with my own letter that addresses technical problems with the MTA's analysis. We are considering everything from coordinating action with other communities along the F line to filing an Article 78 on the MTA. We are concerned that once the tram shuts down, the congestion at the Roosevelt Island will be so severe that F trains will be delayed, which clogs the whole F line — not merely a delay for Roosevelt Island residents. We are working with the elected officials (Lappin, Kellner, Serrano, Stringer, Maloney) to add pressure to the MTA to resolve these concerns.

3. The Next 10 Years? The WIRE's editor Dick Lutz asks for our ideas. Transportation infrastructure and adequate RIOC financing are the Island's main concerns. Without transportation infrastructure, housing is less attractive; meanwhile RIOC's finances are overly dependent on new Southtown construction. So using the creative technique "instead trying to make it better, how do you make it worse?", I think leveling the Goldwater Hospital and building 5000 units of housing will really make things worse. Or will it? If we think about transforming Roosevelt Island to a transportation hub — a Hoboken of the East River — then we might be eligible to receive billions of transportation dollars to improve our transportation infrastructure because Roosevelt Island transportation would now provide a regional benefit, not merely a local benefit. For example, the 53 Street and 60 Street lines could be hollowed out into subway stations and connected as a transfer point; ferry service would be much more attractive with higher numbers of passengers; and an underground moving walkway, for the length of the Island, would shuttle the new passengers (just like O'Hare airport). In summary, to address our weaknesses (transportation, long-term RIOC finances), we market ourselves as a transportation hub (which betters our weaknesses). OK, this isn't a 10-year plan, but a 20-40 year plan.

4. Robots for Kids 6-13 Years Old. Last year, we had a great team of children who learned about and built robots (based upon Lego Mindstorms NXT), and they competed well in a City-wide competition. With the help of the Roosevelt Island Youth Program and the PS/IS 217 Beacon Program, we are continuing again this year with a longer/larger program. Brian Dorfmann and I are the mentors/coaches. The cost is free. We meet once a week 6:30 - 8PM at RIYP's second floor at 506 Main Street. We might expand to two days a week. Both boys and girls enjoy this, they enjoy socializing with children different than their own age, and it is a rewarding experience in many ways and at many levels. Pizza is served for kids.

5. Adult Softball. We are trying again this year to have a league. I spoken with the Riverwalk Bar and Grill about having a kick-off meeting in February. I'll have more details in my next column.

6. Upcoming RIRA meetings. The next Common Council meetings are February 3 and March 3 at 8PM in the church lower floor. Former RIRA President Steve Marcus is chairing the Public Purpose Grant committee, which is reviewing the seven applications received from RIOC. The meetings are open to the public; come to the February 3 RIRA meeting to hear Steve's status report. The next RIRA Town Hall meeting (for reviewing the RIOC Board agenda) is February 10 at 8PM in the church upper floor. These town meetings are very informative — come listen and ask your own questions.

The RIRA President's message is also published as the RIRA column in the 1/30/10 Main Street WIRE.