Entries Tagged 'Education' ↓

Governor Linda Lingle announced today in her State of the State Address that she has authorized the use of $2,805,200 in federal stimulus funds to enhance robotics education programs in Hawai‘i’s schools. The funds will be provided to the University of Hawai‘i College of Engineering, which will disburse the money to the Friends of Hawai‘i Robotics, a not-for-profit organization formed for the purpose of supporting the Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC) and robotics educational programming in the state of Hawai‘i.

The grant money, $1,097,200 this year and $1,708,000 in the next fiscal year, is designed to help foster robotics education and expand students’ learning of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) throughout their schooling, while preparing them for careers in the global economy.

“Robotics education has become an integral part of our efforts to prepare Hawai‘i students for the global economy,” said Governor Lingle. “While we work to develop an innovation economy with high-technology careers based in Hawai‘i, we must also ensure our state’s workforce is ready for the future opportunities. Robotics students will be among those who develop viable solutions to our local, national and global challenges. They will ensure Hawai‘i stays at the forefront of the global economy.”

The funds will be used to purchase robotics kits and curriculum packages for schools, provide teacher workshops and professional development training as well as cover operating costs of competitive robotics events which occur year-round.

“The robotics programs are truly effective in engaging our youth – our future – in the excitement and wonder of science, technology engineering and math,” said University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw. “All of the partners, certainly including highly committed teachers, sponsors, mentors and volunteers, contribute to the success of these programs and such efforts have a positive impact on Hawai‘i’s future. UH-Mānoa is also definitely excited about having the participants as our students in the future.”

The Hawai‘i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC) was formed last year to bring together the six robotics programs – FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Robotics, Botball, VEX Robotics, Underwater Remote Operating Vehicle and Micro Robotics – which previously operated independently. This is the first time all six of the robotics programs have coordinated their efforts to promote robotics education in elementary, middle and high schools statewide.

Over the past 3 years, student participation in robotics education has grown tremendously. Currently, 182 public, charter and private schools have robotics teams in one or more of the six robotics programs, accounting for 47 percent of Hawai‘i’s schools.

Robotics education is a key component of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Hawai‘i Innovation Initiative, which seeks to transform Hawai‘i’s economy from one based on land development to one based on the innovative capacity of Hawai‘i‘s residents, especially our youth.

The $2.8 million funding is being made available to the state under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Part B as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that was passed by Congress last February. Governors have discretion over how to use Part B funds, which for Hawai‘i total approximately $35 million. Governor Lingle has elected to dedicate all of the Part B funds toward public education, with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The FIRST LEGO League 2009 season drew to a close today with an intense competition for the 2009 “Smart Move” Challenge Hawai‘i State Championship. At the Neil S. Blaisdell Arena, 48 teams of students demonstrated their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship and sense of community.

FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” This year’s competition called for teams of 9 to 14 year-old students to research and present their own creative solutions to one of today’s most relevant topics: gaining efficiency in transportation systems.

The Champions Award was presented to Punahou School’s team, Punabots Blue. ‘Iolani School’s Roboraiders Zoom team was named runner-up.

As the state champion, Punahou School will represent Hawai‘i at the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, to be held in conjunction with the FIRST Championship, April 15-17, 2010 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.

Other award winning schools include:

• King Kamuali‘i – Judges Award
• Waimea Canyon Middle – Rising Star Award
• ‘Aina Haina Elementary – Team Spirit Award
• Pauoa Elementary – Core Values Award
• Highlands Intermediate – Gracious Professionalism Award
• Kaunakakai Elementary – Creative Presentation, first place
• Emmanuel Lutheran School – Creative Presentation Award, second place
• ‘Iolani School – Innovative Solution Award, first place; Research Quality Award, second place
• Kapolei Elementary – Innovative Solution Award, second place
• Holomua Elementary – Research Quality Award, first place
• Punahou School (Team Firewall) – Robot Design Award, first place
• Hawai‘i Baptist Academy – Robot Design Award, second place
• Mid Pacific Institute – Team Work Award, first place
• Honolulu Christian Homeschoolers – Team Work Award, second place
• Punahou School (Team Buff n Blue 100) – Robot Performance Award, first place
• Punahou School (Team Firewall) – Robot Performance Award, second place

Student teams programmed their robots to complete “missions,” including how to plan efficient routes and sequences, climb steep ramps, respond to changing conditions, travel along narrow bridges with no guard rails, and endure successful crash tests. Through this research and competitive play, students are exploring the growing questions around how to make transportation more efficient.

The FLL competition is judged in four areas: project presentation; robot performance; technical design and programming of the robot; and teamwork. The highest honor will go to the team that best exemplifies the spirit and values of the program.

In addition to the Championship competition, nearly 200 Junior FIRST LEGO League participants displayed their LEGO models and research projects. Junior FIRST LEGO League is geared toward 6 to 9 year-olds, introducing them to the wonders of science and technology through traditional, open-ended LEGO building with an age-appropriate challenge based on the FIRST LEGO League theme. Hawai‘i currently fields 45 Junior FLL teams.

Participation in the FIRST LEGO League and Junior FIRST LEGO League programs in Hawai‘i has skyrocketed from six to a record 172 teams, in the six years of the programs operation in Hawai‘i.

This weekend’s FLL Hawai‘i State Championship Tournament was sponsored by Hawai‘i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC), Women in Technology, Hawaiian Electric Company, TESORO Corporation, City & County of Honolulu – HTA – CPEP, UH Manoa College of Engineering, Honolulu Community College – Construction Academy, Department of Education and isisHawaii.

FIRST LEGO League is one of six major programs in which Hawai‘i students can participate. The six programs which fall under the umbrella of the Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC) include FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Robotics, Botball, VEX Robotics, Underwater Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV), and Micro Robotics.

Recognizing the importance of promoting robotics at an early age and sustaining students’ interest in STEM education throughout their schooling, the six robotics programs which previously operated autonomously joined together to form the Hawai‘i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC) (www.robotics.hawaii.gov). This is the first time all six of the robotics programs have coordinated their efforts to promote robotics education in elementary, middle and high schools statewide.

To learn more about student robotics in Hawai‘i as well as to view highlights and photos of the Hawai‘i FLL State Championship, visit www.hawaiiroc.org.

The following schools and youth organizations will participated in the “Smart Move” Challenge this weekend:

O‘ahu

• Aina Haina Elementary School
• Hawai‘i Baptist Academy
• Highlands Intermediate School
• Holomua Elementary School
• Honolulu Christian Home Schoolers
• ‘Iolani School
• Kāne‘ohe Elementary School
• Kapolei Elementary School
• Kapolei Middle School
• Lehua Elementary School
• Ma‘ema‘e Elementary School
• Makalapa Elementary School
• Mid Pacific Institute
• Mililani Mauka Elementary School
• Moanalua Elementary
• Noelani Elementary School
• Pearl City Elementary School
• Pearl Ridge Elementary School
• Punahou School
• Sacred Hearts Academy
• Salt Lake Elementary School

Maui

• 4-H Maui
• Emmanuel Lutheran School
• ‘Īao School
• Queen Ka‘ahumanu Elementary School
• Seabury Hall
• St. Josephs School
• Moloka‘i
• Kaunakakai Elementary School

Lāna‘i

• Lāna‘i Elementary School

Big Island

• Keaukaha Robotics Program
• Myron B. Thompson Academy, PCS
• Pauoa Elementary
• Waiākea Elementary
• Waiakeawaena Elementary
• West Hawai‘i Explorations Academy, PCS

Kaua‘i

• King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School
• Kōloa Elementary School
• Waimea Canyon Middle School

ABOUT FIRST

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With the support of many of the world’s most well-known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students, FIRST LEGO League for children 9-14 years old, and Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds.

FLL is an international program for 9 to 14 year-old children (10 to 16 outside the U.S. and Canada) created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998 based on their common belief that fun and learning go hand-in-hand, and that an inspired mind can accomplish anything. Each September, FIRST LEGO League announces the annual challenge to teams, engaging them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build, and program robots to complete missions based on real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.

ABOUT THE LEGO GROUP

LEGO Systems Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin America) division of The LEGO Group, a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children’s creative and imaginative abilities through high-quality, creatively educational play materials, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: “Only the best is good enough.”

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa will hold a Physics and Astronomy Open House from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 21. Eleven sites—including Watanabe Hall, Krauss Annex and the Physical Science Building—will feature physics and astronomy research and applications presented by Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty and students.

The public is invited to attend the 2009 open house, which will also draw high school teachers and their students. There will be physics demonstrations, and presentations on density and buoyancy, nanophysics, anti-matter, free electron laser, cosmic ray physics, astronomy, astrobiology, geo-neutrinos, the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) project, and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The welcome and overview will take place in the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics Auditorium at 8:30 a.m., with sites open from 9:00-11:00 a.m. for group visits, and 11:00 to noon for informal visits.

“This is an opportunity to learn what is happening in physics and astronomy in Hawaii and elsewhere,” said Michael Jones, an Associate Physicist in the UH Mānoa Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Attendees have found previous open house events to be interesting and enjoyable.”

A full schedule is available online in the News & Events section on the bottom of the Physics & Astronomy website at www.phys.hawaii.edu.

The Maui County Fair is proud to again present the RoboTech Maui Expo as part of the Fair’s festivities on Saturday October 3, 2009 in the Baldwin High School Gymnasium. This year, the Expo will feature competitions, exhibits, workshops and more that will highlight this amazing new world of science, recognize our children who are involved, and introduce others to the incredible world of Robotics.

The public is invited to watch teams of middle and high school students challenge each other in the VEX Robotics Competition, as well as fourth and fifth grade students compete in the AIA Maui Lego Building Competition.

For a more hands on experience with robots, Maui students grades 3-8 and their parents can build a robot together using a toothbrush at the BrushBot Robotics Student and Parent Workshop. Preregistration is required and enrollment is limited. To register, email name of student, grade level and school as well as name of accompanying parent, phone number and email address to Art Kimura at art@higp.hawaii.edu or call 808-934-7261.

Winning projects from the Maui Science and Engineering Fair will also be displayed throughout the day at the Expo.

For the RoboTech Maui Expo’s complete schedule visit mauicountyfair.com or call Sherri Grimes at 280-6889.

The 87th Maui County Fair will be “Your Invitation to Fun” and held Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, October 4. The highly anticipated annual event brings the entire community together to enjoy an alcohol-free, smoke-free and drug-free family-oriented educational event with plenty of entertainment, delicious local food, and fun! This year especially, the Fair gives the people of Maui County a well-deserved break from the current economic times and provides priceless quality time for family and friends. The Maui County Fair is the primary source of funding for many of Maui’s nonprofit and community organizations. It relies entirely on corporate or local business sponsorships, local donations, and volunteers for support. Corporate Sponsorship packets are also available online for download.

For information about the Maui County Fair contact Managing Director Sherri Grimes at 280-6889 or visit mauicountyfair.com or twitter.com/mauicountyfair on the web.

Saunders Hall on the UH Mānoa campus served as the demonstration site today for a new renewable energy testbed featuring innovative “micro-inverter” technology.

The “Kumu Kit” solar panel system was donated by Hawaii Energy Connection, LLC to UH Mānoa for installation on the roof of Saunders Hall, home to the Sustainable Saunders Initiative—a collaborative effort among faculty and students to pursue workplace sustainability. Other donations and logistical assistance were made possible from Emphase Energy and the UH Mānoa Sustainability Council. The small residential-sized system, which went live on August 14, will provide an opportunity for students to study the potential of solar energy and test different technologies for turning sunlight into electricity.

“This is a small demonstration and testing site that is vital to move UH to the forefront of research and education in these fields,” said Professor David Nixon, UH Mānoa associate professor in the College of Social Sciences Public Policy Center, and director of the Sustainable Saunders Initiative. “Our vision is to make Saunders Hall the embodiment of sustainability on the Mānoa campus, and renewable energy generation is an important component.”

The first project for the testbed will evaluate micro-inverter technology that improves the efficiency of solar power arrays. The micro-inverters communicate real-time power production data from each solar panel to a central web site that archives historical data.

“We’re particularly excited about the micro-inverters, a new approach to translating the DC power from solar panels into AC power that increases efficiency of the system by 10-15 percent,” said Jeremy Kowalczyk, physics graduate student and Energy Team leader for Sustainable Saunders.

Hawaii is blessed with abundant solar and wind resources that can be harvested to generate electricity. UH Mānoa has set goals of generating 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and achieving energy independence by 2050.

Steve Godmere and Chris DeBone, owners of the Hawai‘i Energy Connection partnership, noted that this is a great opportunity to contribute to the University’s educational and research efforts in sustainability. “Micro-inverters are an important innovation in turning sun power into electricity-they’re less expensive, more convenient, and more efficient than traditional power inverters.”

The Public Policy Center, its UH partners, and the Sustainable Saunders students will be assessing the performance and cost structure of the PV array with its micro-inverters, along with installation possibilities and barriers. For more information, visit: www.publicpolicycenter.hawaii.edu/solaronsaunders.html.

The University of Hawai`i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students matriculate in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu.

Hawaii ranks number 18 nationally in a new state-by-state study on the well-being of America’s children. The 2009 Kids Count Data Book reveals that since 2000, Hawaii improved on six of the 10 measures affecting child well-being. Yet on four other measures, conditions worsened for Hawaii’s kids.

The 20th annual Data Book also contains the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s essay that takes stock of the country’s progress in keeping track of children’s well-being.

This year’s Data Book is complemented by the expanded Kids Count Data Center that contains hundreds of measures of child well-being covering national, state, county, and city information. To access information for Hawaii go to datacenter.kidscount.org/hi.

Hawaii ranks in the top 10 on four of 10 indicators.

Hawaii ranked among the ten best states in the nation on four of 10 indicators of child well-being. Hawaii ranked 2nd on the percent of children in poverty, 3rd on the percent of teens who are high school dropouts, and 10th on both infant mortality rate and the percent of children in single-parent families.

Teen birth rate increases for the first time since 2000.

Between 2000 and 2005, the teen birth rate in Hawaii decreased from 46 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19 to 36 births per 1,000. However, Hawaii’s teen birth rate climbed back to 41 per 1,000 in 2006, a 14 percent increase from 2005. In 2006, there were 1,619 births to teens ages 15 to 19 in Hawaii.

Percent of teens ages 16-19 who are high school dropouts remains low.

Hawaii ranked number 3 nationally in the percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds who were high school dropouts in 2007. The percentage of teens ages 16 to 19 in Hawaii who were high school dropouts decreased from five percent in 2000 to four percent in 2007. Nationally, seven percent of teens ages 16 to 19 were dropouts in 2007.

Percent of children in poverty remains low.

With only 10 percent of children living in poverty in 2007, Hawaii ranked 2nd among the 50 states. Between 2000 and 2007, the percentage of children in Hawaii who were poor decreased from 13 percent to 10 percent. Hawaii’s child poverty rate was well below the national average of 18 percent in 2007.

The University of Hawaii has received $1,485,540 from the U.S. Department of Labor as part of the President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants Initiative. UH was one of 68 community colleges and community-based institutions receiving a total of $123 million. The UH grant is earmarked toward health care training.

“The $123 million awarded today will expand enrollment in education and training programs, and provide more workers with the skills they need to succeed,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

In slightly more than three years, approximately $497 million now has been awarded to 279 community colleges and community-based institutions in 49 states to promote the U.S. workforce’s full potential. Through the first three rounds of these grants, more than 34,000 individuals have completed their education and training, and nearly 85,000 people have participated.

The East-West Center’s AsiaPacificEd Program for Schools has been awarded a $150,000 “Landmarks of American History and Culture” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to conduct teachers workshops on “Pearl Harbor: History, Memory, and Memorial.” These workshops are co-sponsored by the Arizona Memorial Museum Association, the National Park Service, and the Japan American Society and will be held at the East-West Center during the summer of 2009. This is the fifth Landmarks grant that NEH has awarded to the East-West Center for the Pearl Harbor workshops.

Continue reading →

Hawaii was ranked 44th in the nation in academic achievment, 43rd in average SAT scores, and came in dead last in “educational freedom,” according to a nationwide analysis by the American Legislative Exchange Council. This despite the fact that Hawaii was cited as one of the ten states with the greatest improvement in student-to-teacher ratios.

Continue reading →

In an article to be published Friday in The Chronicle of Education, former University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle didn’t mince words. “It’s time for them to come off the plantation,” he said, blasting the UH Board of Regents — which fired him last month — for resisting much-needed change. Describing the escalating conflicts that ultimately led to his dismissal as “a battle for the soul of Hawaii,” Dobelle told The Chronicle that he understood what the local community needed, but chose to ignore the local political structure. “This is not some backward community out in the middle of the Pacific,” answered UH regent Kitty Lagareta. “These are issues that any board would have had to deal with.” Specifically, Dobelle’s critics have cited his failure to fulfill his fundraising and other promises, and questionable use of funds.  DISCUSS

Continue reading →