Rededication Ceremony

Setting: dark
Equipment: 11 candles (lit)

Leader: We know our promise and our law. We recite them often. I am going to ask each of you a question. In answer, I want you to blow out your candle.

What would the world be like if no one tried to serve God or country?
What would the world be like if no one helped anyone?
What would the world be like if no one was honest or fair?
What would the world be like if no one was friendly or helpful?
What would the world be like if no one was considerate or caring?
What would the world be like if no one was courageous or strong?
What would the world be like if no one was responsible?
What would the world be like if no one was respectful?
What would the world be like if no one used resources wisely?
What would the world be like if no one tried to make the world a better place?

Our world would become a very dark place.

I'm going to ask each of you another question. In answer, I want you to say, "yes" and relight your candle.

Will you try to serve God and country?
Will you help those in need?
Will you be honest and fair?
Will you be friendly and helpful?
Will you be considerate and caring?
Will you be courageous and strong?
Will you be responsible?
Will you be respectful?
Will you use resources wisely?
Will you make the worked a better place?

This is how we brighten our world.

A Girl Scout Campfire Ceremony

Items needed: a twig and a leaf to throw into the campfire.

LEADER: The campfire tight represents the light of love and friendship. I call upon the Girl Scouts assembled here to sacrifice that which is undesirable into its flames.

GIRL SCOUT 1: I sacrifice dishonesty and unfairness. I will do my best to be honest and fair and friendly and helpful.

GIRL SCOUT 2: I sacrifice uncharitable thoughts and all unhappiness. I will be considerate and caring and courageous and strong.

GIRL SCOUT 3: I sacrifice all that is impure and all feeling soy rivalry. I will be responsible for what I say and do . i will respect myself and others.

GIRL SCOUT 4: I sacrifice disrespectfulness and all that is wasteful. I will respect authority, and I will use resources wisely.

GIRL SCOUT 5: I sacrifice all feelings of apathy and all unfriendly feelings. i will make the word a better place and be a sister to every Girl Scout.

ALL: On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help other people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout law.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Team 13383 (Grrl-Z Bears) for winning the grand prize at the FIRST Lego League Qualifying Tournament at Intel Jones Farm Campus today (12/01/2012). They had their pit all decorated really cool with a purple table cloth and balloons. They had costumes for their skit. And they sang the core values. I didn't see their robot perform, but I think they will be a tough team to beat at state.

First robotics meeting

Lots of energy! We didn't have our robot or field kit to work with, but I had some videos from my registration packet that I was able to share with them. We talked about the project a little bit, and we talked about the missions a little bit.

Nobel Prize Awarded Women

I'm trying to think of names to suggest to the girls for our robotics team. Most of the robotics teams have rather silly names, I think. Since ours is an all-girl team, and one of the great barriers for girls interested in science, technology, engineering and math is the lack of positive role models, I thought it might be interesting to name our team after a famous female scientist.

The first woman I thought of was Sally Ride. She was in the paper recently when she lost her battle with cancer, but I couldn't think of anything that sounded interesting, and I couldn't think of anyone else, so I decided to look up Nobel Prize winners.

"The Nobel Prize and Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded to women 44 times between 1901 and 2011. Only one woman, Marie Curie, has been honoured twice, with the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This means that 43 women in total have been awarded the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 2011." -Nobel Prize.org

I am only interested in the scientists, so I get a list of 15 women:

1. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, 2008, physiology
2. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, 2009, physiology
3. Linda B. Buck, 2004, physiology
4. Gerty Cori, 1947, physiology
5. Marie Curie, 1903, physics, 1911, chemistry
6. Gertrude B. Elion, 1988, physiology
7. Carol W. Greider, 2009, physiology
8. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, 1964, chemistry
9. Irène Joliot-Curie, 1935, chemistry
10. Rita Levi-Montalcini. 1986 physiology
11. Maria Goeppert Mayer, 1963, physics
12. Barbara McClintock, 1983, physiology
13. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, 1995, physiology
14. Rosalyn Yalow, 1977, physiology
15. Ada E. Yonath, 2009, chemistry

Here is a list of synonyms for "builder: architect, artisan, constructor, contractor, craftsperson, erector, fabricator, framer, inventor, maker, manufacturer, mason, originator, producer

Possibilities: Barre's Builders, Blackburn's Builders, Buck's Builders, Cori's Contractors, Curie's Constructors, Elion's Erecto's or Mayer's Makers.

Registration Packet Arrives

Today (09/24/2012) I received in the mail my coaches' Handbook for the 2012 FLL Challenge, a packet of flyers for parents, a DVD guide to the FLL project and a compilation DVD.

• The compilation DVD has a bunch of short videos promoting the different competitions organized by FIRST. One of them features Keanu Reeves and another features Bill Gates. :-)
• The DVD Guide to the FLL Project is a video created by an FLL team explaining the project and giving helpful tips to competing teams.
• The Coaches' Handbook is a hundred pages long. I think I will read it a little at a time. :-)

Robotics training workshop

I just got back from an all-day training workshop in Salem. We covered a lot of topics. My head is reeling, but the most fun was building a robot and programing it. We built the robot from instructions, so that was pretty easy, and we wrote our first program from instructions, too, but by the end we wrote a program of our own. That was fun. My team's robot didn't actually complete its mission, but we had a lot of fun anyway.

I can't wait to get started. My robot kit isn't here yet, but we are already two weeks into the season, so I've decided to hold our first meeting next week anyway. If the robot isn't here by then, we can get started on the project.

I hope I can help the girls have a positive experience. There were moments today, when I was so frustrated, I just didn't want to do it anymore, but those moments passed, and I got excited about the next challenge.