Horace Mann - Summer 2016 - 30

News of the School Happening at Horace Mann School NEWS BRIEFS L ife at Horace Mann School is ever vibrant, as students and the greater HM community engage in education that often leads beyond the school's walls, through service learning, scientific research, artistic and athletic activities and more. Articles about these happenings at Horace Mann School appear regularly on the "News" section of the HM website. The website's "Media Gallery" features photographs from every Division of the school, as well as from the John Dorr Nature Laboratory, throughout the year. To keep up with HM Lions sports teams in every season click on "Athletics." These can be found at www.horacemannschool.org. Here we report on just a few recent endeavors in which students and HM community members are involved. New Robotics and Engineering Lab Helps Propel HM Students' Studies and Innovations, Recognized Locally and Internationally J anuary 2016 saw the opening of a new Robotics and Engineering Lab and engineering space at Horace Mann School. Located on the bottom floor of Tillinghast Hall, it provides the most state-of-the-art facility possible for a space that is used for both teaching and innovation. The Lab was created by renovating a classroom where robotics classes were held for nearly a decade. The room now better serves this purpose, according to HM's Middle and Upper Division Department of Computer Science and Robotics Chair Jason Torres. The Lab, with its 3-D printers and cement floors-the better to sweep up metal filings-was designed by Computer Science and Robotics Lab Manager Fred Levy. Levy joined the HM faculty in August 2015 in the school's response to the burgeoning interest in robotics among HM's Middle and Upper Division students, and now Lower Division students who are introduced to robotics in Kindergarten. "The space is meant for robotics and for engineering in general. If a student has an idea they want to try, we're there to help," said Levy, noting that he had just spent a Saturday in the Lab assisting a student who wanted to build a solar cooker. A veteran technology teacher Levy also works with MD and UD Computer Science teacher Glenda Guerrero, who first introduced many HM students to robotics, and with UD Computer Science teacher Danah Screen, who advises HM's ninth-grade robotics team. The Robotics Lab was completed in time for the international launch of the 2016 FIRST Challenge. The FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program was founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. Today hundreds of thousands of K-12 students around the world are involved in educational events and competition that engage them in the technical and creative aspects of scientific innovation, and bring them together with other students with similar interests. While HMers have competed in many robotics challenges over recent years, including FIRST Technology Challenges (FTC) and First Lego League (FLL) competitions, 2016 marked HM's initial entry into the highly competitive FIRST Challenge. HM's Basement Lions Robotics Team worked together after school and on weekends to satisfy the Challenge's many requirements, and ran their robot "Hank" through numerous matches at New York City's FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) at the Jacob Javits Center in March 2016. The Lions won the Highest Rookie Seed Award, which celebrates the first-year team with the highest ranking after the 88 matches that qualify teams for quarter, semi-final and final competitions. On March 29, 2016 three HM students were named first-place winners in the New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF). Two of the students went on to the Intel International Science and Engineering 30 Horace Mann Magazine Summer 2016 Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix, Ariz. in May 2016, where they won a top award. The winners all made use of HM's new Robotics Lab in their work. HM's NYCSEF winners were selected from an initial 700 entries. Karen Jiang '17 was a winning finalist in the Medicine and Health Sciences category for her research titled "A new therapeutic use for existing Src kinase inhibitors and gamma-secretase inhibitor to suppress castration-resistant prostate cancer cell growth, immigration and invasion." She also received the the U.S. Air Force Award presented to "outstanding projects that offer Air Force applicability." Joshua Gruenstein '17 and Michael Truell '18 worked together on the robotics entry "Fido: A Universal Robot Control System using Reinforcement Learning with Limited Feedback." Presenting their work at Intel ISEF, the world's largest international pre-college science competition where over 1,700 high school students from more than 75 countries, regions, and territories showcase their independent research, the two HMers received a Second Award-Special Award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Physics and science research advisor Dr. Jeff Weitz helped guide Jiang, Gruenstein and Truell's independent research. Torres noted that the students' ability to access the Robotics and Engineering Lab reflected his Department's effort "to open our space to students from all departments working on projects. We supported Josh and Michael as they utilized parts and help from the Robotics Lab, particularly our 3-D printers, and we helped Karen print her poster for the competition. We are very pleased to see how our new Lab, in its first year, is serving students in their classroom studies, their co-curricular activities, and their independent research," Torres said. HM's Ninth Annual Service Learning Day Connects over 1,000 to Community and Service O ver 1,000 Horace Mann School students and community members from the Nursery through the Upper Division, together with local community participants, came to HM's Bronx campus on April 16, 2016 for the school's ninth-annual day of service. Service Learning Day 2016 was organized by HM's Center for Community Values and Action (CCVA). The CCVA was founded in 2006 by its Director Dr. Jeremy Leeds '72 to promote and strengthen the connections among education, ethics and action at HM and in the wider community. Among its initiatives, the CCVA coordinates HM's Upper Division Service-Learning Team (SLT) through which students from grades nine through twelve work, on a regular basis, with a range of organizations, institutions and individuals in the local community and beyond. Throughout the "Growing Our Community" event participants engaged in literacy and classroom activities, technology opportunities, including robotics and Hour of Code programming, and athletics, art and activities highlighting nutrition, and more. While these activities took http://www.horacemannschool.org

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