Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Magazine

Another Robot team, with homeschoolers from Western PA makes it to the World Competition!

20 Apr 2012 20:27:26 EST

The Terabytes Robotics Team!, 4/20/2012

Editor's Note from Susan Richman: a while back I shared a terrific article about the eastern PA team of junior high level homeschoolers taking part in the robotics competition-- now here's news on a senior level team! AND they are also looking to do a major service projectwith their robot down in Guatemala at a children's home-- read on! Also, if you are in the Plum, PA area, the Terabytes would like to invite you to their team room at Bible Baptist Church (200 Elicker Road, Plum) for an Open House on Saturday, April 21, 2012 from 12 to 6pm to see their robot in action.

A local team of seven high school students, team 4149 the Terabytes, has earned their way to the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World competition in St. Louis in late April.

The FIRST organization (www.usfirst.org) was founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. They work to accomplish this goal through mentor based programs such as the FIRST Tech Challenge. The FTC competition is played on a twelve by twelve foot playing area where four robots in alliances of two compete to earn the most points. This year the challenge involves picking up racquetballs, putting them in baskets, then stacking the baskets or raising them super high. There are also bowling balls on the field that can be pushed around to be scored. A match starts out with a thirty second autonomous period followed by a two minute teleop(remote controlled) period. There are also a variety of judged awards based on the team’s outreach, engineering design, ingenuity, and other factors. The highest award in FTC is the Inspire Award. The Inspire Award is given to the team whom the judges thought was the best “role model”, and was a strong competitor in all the judging categories as well as on the field.

FTC Robotics team 4149 the Terabytes, based in the Pittsburgh area, recently qualified for the World FTC competition at the Ohio state championship in Cleveland. Though the Terabytes didn’t win the competition on the field, they were honored to receive the Inspire Award which ensured them a seat at the World Competition. They are the only team from western Pennsylvania to qualify at the FTC level....

Encore! Home School Productions presents our 2012 show-- an Agatha Christie play! April 19, 20, 21, Camp Hill PA

12 April 2012 12:31:02 EST

Nancy Emerson, 4/12/2012

Encore! Home School Productions presents our 2012 show:

Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death

We’d love to have other homeschool families come to the show! Twenty-five homeschoolers, ages 13-18, portray Ms. Christie’s inimitable suspects, heroes and heroines in this suspenseful murder mystery in 1940s Jerusalem. You’ll have fun figuring out ‘whodunit’!

Encore! Home School Productions is a theater group for homeschoolers in south central PA led by executive director Jill Panyard. Our group is recognized in the region for its high quality productions -- Just last year our group was honored with an“Outstanding Musical” nomination for our production, First Impressions, the Pride & Prejudice musical, in the 2011 Apollo Awards, a regional high school theater competition.

When: Thursday, April 19 at 7 pm

Friday, April 20 at 7 pm

Saturday, April 21 at 7 pm (A special event, a dinner with live entertainment,

followed by the show, starts at 5:15, as another option.)

Sunday, April 22 at 3 pm

Buy TICKETS at www.showtix4u.com OR call (866) 967-8167

Where: Trinity High School auditorium, Camp Hill, PA (Harrisburg area)

For more information: Call Nancy at (717) 932-4832

News story in the Patriot-News:

http://www.pennlive.com/east-shore/index.ssf/2012/04/encore_home_school_productions_have_appointment_with_death.html

... see more photos from the show....

5th grade homeschooler wins PA level of National Bicycle Poster Contest!!!

27 March 2012 10:44:19 EST

Jenna Litynski, 3/27/2012

Editor's Note from Susan Richman: I was so delighted to hear from the Litnyski family this morning about this wonderful win for Brenna! This is her poster-- we hope *everyone* who takes part in this website helps in VOTING now for Brenna's terrific artwork, from April 2-6, 2012.... We can all help her become the national winner! I know you'll agree that she really worked hard and that she created a dramatic and very meaningful image. Brenna's mom shared how much her daughter enjoyed taking part in this project -- and her hope was that Brenna's win would inspire other homeschool students to jump in and take part in engaging and worthwhile contests of all sorts, which can really stretch our kids to reach for new goals and complete a memorable project. We're all so proud of Brenna! And your homeschool kids will also benefit by knowing they've helped out another student here (through voting for Brenna's poster!), and I know they'll be inspired by seeing the work of the other state winners up on the website for the contest.

On January 24, 2012, Suzan Knott made the following posting on the bulletin board of www.pahomeschoolers.com:

5th GRADE NATIONAL BICYCLE POSTER CONTEST!

The 2012 NATIONAL BICYCLE POSTER CONTEST is also open to homeschool students!
Now through March 1st, fifth-grade students across the state can compete in the contest and learn about how bicycles can be one solution to many of our countries emerging issues (bicycling is fun, healthy and green). The contest, is sponsored by Saris, Schwinn, Lazer and Planet Bike and there are great prizes to be won for the students AND schools.

My name is Jenna Litynski and I am the proud mother of Brenna Litynski, a homeschooled student, who won the 5th Grade Saris Cycling Poster Contest for the state of Pennsylvania! She will be representing Pennsylvania with her artwork at the National Level and NEEDS YOUR HELP. Online public voting will take place between April 2nd and 6th at www.sariscyclinggroup.com/postercontest and the national winner wins a trip to Washington DC for the 2013 National Bike Summit! We need the homeschoolers of Pennsylvania to support Brenna by helping her get votes. If she wins, she will attend the National Bike Summit in 2013 and represent the homeschooled students and families of Pennsylvania! She does not have classmates from a brick and mortar school to help, but hopefully she will have the hundreds of Pennsylvania homeschooled students and their families support her and vote for her artwork! The future of cycling as a form of transportation and healthy living is in the hands of young people like Brenna. Art contests such as this one are wonderful opportunities for homeschooled students to broaden their horizons. They allow the creative student to use and enjoy their creative gifts, but also encourage students to find ways of applying them to make a difference in the lives of others....