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Two teams from the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies won the Mini-Urban Challenge Robotics California Regional Competition on March 7 in a competition that took place on their home turf. The two teams have now been invited to compete in the national finals.
The Mini-Urban Challenge is a national event that challenges high school students to work in teams to design, build and program a robotic vehicle built from LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kits that can accurately navigate autonomously through a model city utilizing avoidance collision and path-finding algorithms, LA Unified said on its Facebook page. The competition is intended to expose students to the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The event is sponsored by the Doolittle Institute, the Air Force Research Laboratory and John Deere.
Deasy’s salary turns heads at AALA
The Los Angeles Daily News recently reported that former LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy made nearly $440,000 in 2014 in salary. The number certainly turned a few heads and earned rebukes from UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl and board member Bennett Kayser.
In its weekly newsletter, the Associated Administrator’s of Los Angeles joined in and tossed out a few barbs of its own.
“One would expect the superintendent of a district to be the highest paid employee, but earning $150K more than the second highest, we think is a stretch, especially when the investment earned less than stellar returns,” the newsletter said. “Another question: Since Deasy is the Superintendent-in-Residence at the Broad Academy, why is the District still paying his health benefits? With UTLA and LAUSD at an impasse in salary negotiations, revelations of this type will be little aid in the mediation process.”
9-year-old schools school board on testing
The issue of standardized tests and their usefulness has been making headlines all around the country. But a recent post on Upworthy, which highlights a 9-year-old girl in Florida taking her local school board to task over testing, is a must-see, regardless of where you stand on the issue.
In her appearance on March 17 in front of the Hernando County School Board, little Sydney Smoot had a few big things to say on the subject.
Check out the YouTube video below.
LAUSD arts festival season
LAUSD is hosting a series of six arts festival celebrations this month and next, starting off with “Let’s Celebrate! Choral Music” at North Hollywood High School on April 11.
Click here for more information.