Local Teens are Building Robots and Changing Lives
Source: Fox 8 News
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Some of the brightest young minds in Cleveland are learning to build robots and change lives.
Future engineers, astronauts, and problem solvers recently met for a robotics competition at the Great Lakes Science Center, while in another room they worked on a side project.
Yariselle Andujar and Daneala Moreno are sophomores at Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School in Cleveland.
‘Making a difference’: Cleveland robotics team designs custom prosthetic arm for teen in Ecuador
Source: WKYC New
A teen girl from Ecuador is again able to write her name for the first time in three years, thanks to the work of high school students from Cleveland and a nonprofit that delivers medical care overseas.
Samantha Chango, 13, had her left arm amputated as the result of a bus accident. Nerve damage in her right arm left her unable to move that arm, wiggle her fingers or open and close her hand.
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg tours Northeast Ohio as Infrastructure money starts flowing
Source: News 5 Cleveland
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg spent the day in Northeast Ohio with Congresswoman Shontel Brown touring some of the local facilities that will be training the workforce that will help implement the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Act. The two toured the Greater Cleveland RTA’s training and development hub at Tri-C in Euclid. There they met with the next generation of bus drivers, truck drivers, mechanics, and more. Ohio is set to receive just short of $12 billion in funding over the next five years for roads, bridges, public transit, and more.
Davis students’ short films featured in Cleveland International Film Festival
What began as a class assignment for Davis Aerospace and Maritime ninth graders has turned into three short films that are part of the 46th Cleveland International Film Festival.
The films are part of CIFF’s FilmSlam Streams, an educational program for students, and can be viewed online.
To teach literary elements of a story, English teacher Darlene Jeter came up with the class project of either writing a short story or producing a film.
“The students learned about symbolism, theme, mood and tone,” she said.
To give students examples, Jeter used videos already in the FilmSlam Streams.
intervention specialist Aerial Morrison said the assignment gave students a project they would enjoy and remember.
“We notice that many of our students are so talented in the arts,” said Morrison. “Their passion may be maritime and aerospace, but we wanted to give them an opportunity to exercise their art and display it in a nontraditional fashion.”
Jeter said more students wrote short stories. All projects were showcased at the first Freshmen Short Film and Short Story Festival. She invited parents and members of the film festival.
“We wanted them to see how beneficial their content is for our students,” said Jeter.
Members of the film festival selected three Davis Aerospace & Maritime films to become a part of the FilmSlam. The films are:
· “Mean Auntie,” by Kasmere Sanders.
· “The Consequences of Bullying,” by Brooklin Willis, Zariah Thornton, Jiradynet Estrema.
· “The Corruption,” by Emitt Dobranic, Montie Henderson, Antoine Blair.
Montie and Antione, the student filmmakers behind “The Corruption,” were excited to have the murder mystery featured in the festival.
“Everyone was proud of what we did, and it was really exciting,” said Antione.
“It’s an honor,” said Montie. “It was my first time making a film, and for it to be recognized, it’s just it’s incredible.”
The films will now become a part of the FilmSlam library for other students around the country to watch and learn literary techniques.
“Their films will be used for years to come to help other students learn about different elements of filming or writing,” said Jeter.
Jeter plans to make the Freshman Short Story and Film Festival a yearly event.
The following students also received Bennys in honor of the namesake of our school, Benjamin O. Davis.
- Best Original Short Story — Yariselle Andujar and Daniela Morena
- Best Graphic Novel/Comic Strip – Paul Lorenzi
- Best Theme in a short story — Damian Browning and Fabian Zayas Perez
- Best Symbolism in a short story — Randy Negron and Malachi Harris
- Best Foreshadowing in a short story – Gevantae Goins
- Best Irony … in a short story — Deontae Stockwell
- Best Character …. In a short story — Achilleskarun Sain-Wells
- 100 Percent on Project — Raphael Kirk
- Best Cameo – Tim Jones, Principal
- Most Words – 3,569 Words – Maxwell Campbell
Five CMSD robotics teams competed in FIRST Buckeye Regional
For six weeks leading up to the FIRST Robotics Buckeye Regional, students and their mentors and coaches built and programmed a 120-pound robot.
Sixty teams from Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania converged on the Wolstein Center on the Cleveland State University campus late last month to square off during the matches.
Five of those teams were from CMSD, with four competing for the first time.
“It’s huge. I mean, that’s an understatement,” said Arley “Mr. T” Trujillo, a mentor for the John Marshall robotics team. “These new teams have never been to a competition before. So, just the fact that we’re out here and able to get a robot out there, I think speaks volumes.”
The rookie teams are from East Tech, John Marshall, Davis Aerospace and Maritime, MC2STEM. The Youth Technology Academy team, a combination of students from eight CMSD high schools is a program based at Tri-C, won a world championship in 2016.
The teams faced some difficulties getting their robots to work correctly during the matches, but they held their own.
Victoria, an 11th-grader at Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School, says her team worked in the pit to make several changes to their robot, which was called The Beast.
“I had to make a program change,” said Victoria. “And we are changing the length of the arms because they were too short.”
JonDarr V.T. Bradshaw, a member of the Buckeye Regional planning committee, said during this First Robotics competition, teams had to program their robots to perform a series of autonomous tasks for the first 15 seconds of the match.
“The next minute and a half, the students operate the vehicle by remote control to collect game pieces and score points,” said Bradshaw, who also is a community engagement coordinator with the Great Lake Science Center. “The last 30 seconds we call the ‘end game’”. That is where the robots must climb up a series of monkey bars. The higher they can climb, the more points the teams will receive.”
Dewayne, a member of the East Tech team, said driving the robot is exciting.
When I am playing, I am zoned out and focused on the robot and trying to score points,” said Dewayne.
While none of the CMSD teams advanced to the finals, Zachary Wenz, the lead mentor at Mc2STEM, said all the teams gained a lot of experience and insight on how to improve their performance for the next competition.
“A big part of this is teaching them how to lead, teaching them how to communicate, teaching them how to be able to motivate and drive each other,” said Wenz. They are doing great and will do even better next year.”