CCSC's Robotics Team Headed To State Tourney!
Community Charter School of Cambridge’s robotics team has been invited to participate in the Massachusetts state tournament on March 10th at Andover High School. CCSC will be one of just 24 teams competing for a chance to advance to the World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
“This is huge for a new team,” said Corrine Kielbasa, CCSC’s science chair and staff advisor to the program. “Our students are thrilled.”
In just its first year, CCSC’s robotics team has spent its inaugural season traveling to other schools and regional events to compete in a variety of robotic challenges. The team won the Connect Award and garnered a third place Inspire Award this year and placed 5th at the Massachusetts High Tech Challenge at Arlington High School on January 21.
Tenth grade student Biondy Lisieux says the science and technology work is challenging and fun, but he enjoys the camaraderie most. “I’ve met some great people who like the same things I do,” he said. “That makes it fun.”
Renee Sullivan, of PTC, Jesse Moskowitz of VISTA-MA (http://www.usfirst.org/ ), Carl Morrissey of Vecna (http://www.vecna.com), and Mark Long Jr., a freshman at Northeastern University have served as mentors for the dozen CCSC students who make up the robotics team.
“It's incredibly energizing to see students sit together and talk through problems, sometimes near the point of arguing because both sides are so passionate about their point of view,” said Renee Sullivan. “I believe after school programs are tremendously important for students, especially ones like robotics. They give the students an opportunity to apply the skills they learn in class to practical, real-world problems.”
Founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology, FIRST is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit public charity that designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.
CCSC’s program is made possible with generous grants from Akamai (www.akamai.com), PTC, and FIRST.
A Day In The Life: CCSC's Mock Trial Team
(The latest installment in an ongoing series of updates about what really happens each day at Community Charter School of Cambridge)
By Katie Rieser & Sherelle Ferguson
Humanities faculty
Our mock trial team traveled to the Somerville District Court last Thursday (1/26/12) for the school’s first competition. We had a rather rough-and-tumble dress rehearsal before we left, but the students were optimistic as we boarded the bus on the way to the courthouse. Upon arriving, the students reluctantly gave up all cell phones, and politely entered the courtroom space. The security guards were won over by how Daniel Howell, a senior at CCSC, held the door. It’s the little things, after all.
Our students were all set to defend a teacher, Annie Sway (played by CCSC’s Ahna Jahir), who was accused of being negligent because she didn’t act swiftly enough to prevent several acts of bullying. These acts of bullying, in turn, resulted in her advisee getting placed in a mental institution. Oh dear. CCSC students presented the argument that Sway (the teacher) was less to blame than the school’s flawed bullying policy and, ultimately, Massachusetts state law (which, we argued, was weak).
The case began with an opening statement on the part of the Plaintiff (played by the Melrose team). CCSC’s Peg Nonez, a ninth grader, then stood up in front of the crowd and delivered an excellent opening for the defense, arguing articulately that Ms. Sway, the teacher, did everything in her power to report and prevent the acts of bullying that occurred. Peg subsequently received a 9 (out of a possible 10 points) for her performance. It was very impressive. We didn’t realize that she had not changed up her fur-lined moccasins for heels until it was too late, though. Oh well.
After the openings, we were off. CCSC’s Charde Hunt, a junior, won over the judge, the opposing team’s coach, and the entire room with her strong self-possession and practiced courtroom demeanor. She politely popped out of her seat six times during Melrose’s first examination: “Objection, hearsay; Objection, leading; Objection, speculation”. We teachers pinched each other with glee as we heard the word “Sustained” repeatedly from the judge. The opposing team, less well versed in courtroom procedure, didn’t know what hit them. Their witnesses, however, were trained to have excellent diction, and all drew high marks, even though we knew our stuff.
Other fantastic moments of the trial included:
CCSC’s Tristan Pepin, a tenth grader, who argued that although the bullying policy stated that students were required to report incidents of bullying as soon as possible, the policy didn’t say anything about teachers.
CCSC’s Charde Hunt’s polite indecision about whether to impeach her witness (she said to the judge: “I just don’t know whether I should impeach him”).
CCSC tenth grader Aahkeilah Rogers, on cross examination, responding to the Melrose team lawyer: “I said that because you were badgering me!”.
CCSC’s Jose Valladerasa articulate and composed handling of a curve ball from the judge around an objection to the classification of his witness as an expert on adolescents.
On and on it went. At the end of the day, our CCSC team lost by three points, and but Ms. Ferguson and I ruled our judge to be fair and impartial. The Melrose team was able to efficiently bring its point home, and we fell short on a few of the more difficult pieces of our thematic case. The students were given feedback by a real judge in the Somerville court, they looked amazing, and they tittered about the legal details all the way home on the bus.
Next up: Brookline High.
Kendall Square Association, Google, celebrate "Third Thursday" at CCSC
CAMBRIDGE [1/19/12] _ CCSC staff and students welcomed the Kendall Square Association to campus on Thursday, hosting the group's "Third Thursday" networking event.
Sponsored by CCSC's Kendall Square neighbor Google, the event drew more than 100 people and was a big success, according to officials involved.
Steve Vinter, Site Director and Engineering Director at Google in Cambridge, was keynote speaker for the night, and lauded the students and staff for their accomplishments.
Paula Evans, CCSC's Head of School, said the event was the perfect venue to highlight the importance of collaboration among Kendall Square businesses and showcase CCSC's students and staff.
Google's Steve Vinter, with CCSC's Paula Evans and Upper School Principal Caleb Hurst-Hiller.
Photo by Keith Spiro, courtesy of Kendall PRess, www.KeithSpiroPhotography.com and http://www.Kendall-press.com
To read more about the event, visit:
For more information about the KSA, visit: www.kendallsq.com
The da Vinci Project: CCSC Robotics Team Takes Off
CAMBRIDGE _ Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, a group of 12 meets in lab space in the heart of Kendall Square, and using collective expertise in hardware, software, and outreach, works on a project called “da Vinci”.
And every member of the group hopes “da Vinci” crushes its competition.
The “da Vinci” , of course, is a robot and the group of 12 building it is Community Charter School of Cambridge’s inaugural Robotics FIRST Tech Challenge team. “We named our robot ‘da Vinci’ because da Vinci is credited with the first tank designs,” said Tristan Pepin, a 10th grade student and one of several project leaders on CCSC’s robotics team.
Founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology, FIRST is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit public charity that designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.
“It's incredibly energizing to see students sit together and talk through problems, sometimes near the point of arguing because both sides are so passionate about their point of view,” said Renee Sullivan, one of the group’s mentors. “I believe after school programs are tremendously important for students, especially ones like robotics. They give the students an opportunity to apply the skills they learn in class to practical, real-world problems. So, since my company, PTC (http://www.ptc.com/company/index.htm), has such a huge involvement in FIRST, starting a high school FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team made a lot of sense.”
CCSC’s team travels to other schools and statewide events to compete in a variety of robotic challenges. In addition to Ms. Sullivan, the group’s other mentors include CCSC science chair Corinne Kielbasa, Jesse Moskowitz of VISTA-MA (http://www.usfirst.org/ ), Carl Morrissey of Vecna (http://www.vecna.com), and Mark Long Jr., a freshman at Northeastern University.
“As an Americorps VISTA for the year, one of my responsibilities is to start and support FIRST Robotics teams in Boston,” said Mr. Moskowitz. “CCSC has been one of the highlights. The students at CCSC have shown an incredible work ethic and rigor towards their building their robot. The respect they show to each other, and to their school, is really special. During competitions, they’ve exhibited a lot of resolve and a great sense of humor.”
CCSC’s program is made possible with generous grants from Akamai (www.akamai.com), PTC, and FIRST.
Tenth grade student Biondy Lisieux says the science and technology work is challenging and fun, but he enjoys the camaraderie most. “I’ve met some great people who like the same things I do,” he said. “That makes it fun.”
For more information about CCSC, visit www.ccscambridge.org.
CCSC celebrates "Alumni Day"
From Boston College and Swarthmore they came, Wheaton College, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and many other schools, too, dozens of graduates returning to their roots at Community Charter School of Cambridge last Wednesday to celebrate, and participate in, the school’s inaugural “Alumni Day.”
“It’s refreshing, exciting,” said Joli Ripert ‘10, a sophomore at Fairfield University. “It makes me feel good to see my old teachers and share with students what I’ve learned at college,”
Morning events, including an alumni panel of nine CCSC graduates now at colleges and universities across the country, and a presentation and sharing of top college essays by members of the current senior class, took place at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development center.
“What a terrific venue and an inspiring reminder to current students and alumni alike of what awaits them upon graduation,” said Paula Evans, CCSC’s Head of School. “Microsoft was a wonderful host.”
More than 200 current students in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade attended the panel presentation.
“Today was such an important step for us as a school. We’ve been successful sending students to college and know that they’re doing well. However, this event was about bridging the two worlds, having our alums start to make college life more real for those presently enrolled at CCSC. Showing students what’s coming and how best to get there is absolutely critical.” said Caleb Hurst-Hiller, principal of CCSC’s Upper School. “What a wonderful experience for the presenters and the audience alike.”
For 90 minutes, CCSC students heard directly from CCSC alumni about the transition to college, orientation, workload, life on campus, living in a dormitory, financial aid, summer opportunities, and more.
The alumni panel consisted of Mitchell Moise, ‘09, Emmanuel College, Rachel Evelyn Jean-Louis, Denison University, ‘09, Ariel Garcia, ‘09, UMASS-Dartmouth, Steven Rodenas, ‘09, Boston College, Demetri Falherty,’ 11, Massachusetts College of Art, Andrea Morgan, ‘10, Providence College, Ms. Ripert, ‘10, Fairfield, and Darryl Brown, ‘10, Dean College, and Nephthalie Bernard, '10, Wheaton.
CCSC hosted an afternoon reception on campus for alumni, allowing them time to reconnect with classmates at other colleges and also reunite with faculty and staff.
“There’s such a sense of community here,” said Leah Jean-Louis, ’10, a sophomore at Swarthmore College. “People here really care about us, even after we graduate.”
School officials lauded the efforts of Amy Daniels, CCSC’s alumni coordinator, for organizing the event.
