18A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 11, 2015
Polk County Schools/Education
SCHOOL NOTES
Extended Campus meeting slated
DALLAS — Dallas High is holding an interest meeting for sen-
iors and their parents regarding the school’s Extended Campus
program Thursday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Bollman Auditorium,
1250 SE Holman Ave.
Extended Campus offers DHS students a chance to attend
one or two years of classes at Chemeketa Community College at
no cost through a contract established between the high school
and college. All participating students must have met gradua-
tion requirements to qualify for the program.
For more information: Dallas High School, 503-623-8336.
Budget committee members sought
PERRYDALE — Perrydale School District has openings for two
individuals to serve on its budget committee (Position No. 3 and
Position No. 5).
Interviews for the two budget committee positions will take
place on March 9 at 7 p.m. The Perrydale School Board will ap-
point new committee members on March 17.
Applications for the budget committee positions are avail-
able at the Perrydale School District office, 7445 Perrydale Road,
Amity. The first committee meeting is April 24 at 6 p.m.
For more information: 503-623-2040.
Lunch program seeking volunteers
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Twenty-four high school robotics teams competed at Dallas High School’s SkyRise tournament on Saturday.
Robotics teams on the rise
Dallas school programs catching on, achieving success
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The Dallas
High robotics Team ramRod
experienced engine failure at
the wrong time — just as it
began driving its robot onto
the competition field.
The team was one of 24 at
Dallas High School’s SkyRise
Tourney Saturday and was
sitting in second place be-
fore the second-to-the-last
scrimmage began.
It was time to improvise,
and the team did it to perfec-
tion, maneuvering around
its dead right engine to com-
plete tasks — moving and
stacking cubes — and score
points.
When the final buzzer
went off, Team ramRod and
its handicapped robot made
a good showing.
“We still won,” said team
member Jacob Reimer as he
and teammate Jake Shryer
repaired the engine before
the last scrimmage. “That’s
the important part.”
DHS robotics coach Lee
Jones said the robotics pro-
gram has come a long way
since fielding just one team
six years ago.
“I started with three stu-
dents,” he said. “Now we are
at 20.”
More growth is on the
horizon, as LaCreole Middle
School has launched its own
program this year. LaCreole’s
robotics squads were part of
18 middle school teams that
participated in a separate
middle school tournament
at DHS Saturday.
LaCreole coach Jacob
Gradek said the competition
was a good warmup for next
month’s state tournament.
Because there aren’t very
many middle school teams
in Oregon’s VEX Robotics
program, all teams in the
state will be making the trip
to North Marion High School
in Aurora March 7 to see who
will represent the state in the
national competition.
“It’s a challenge every day,”
said seventh-grader Hunter
Allison-Petersen, who with
his partner Collin Graves, an
eighth-grader, and their
robot, Sheila, qualified for
the finals round Saturday.
Both said their favorite as-
pects of robotics is designing
and programming their
robot. They said they were
looking forward to compet-
ing at the high school level in
the coming years.
Gradek said LaCreole
added robotics to the class
schedule this year and he is
excited to see the enthusi-
asm from his students.
“It’s just incredibly re-
warding,” said Gradek, who
also served as the tourna-
ment emcee. “Seeing what
they come up with, it’s our
first year, but it’s great to see
the growth in the program.”
In Team ramRod, they
have something to aspire to
in the coming years. Jones
believes the team, which
placed well in matches be-
fore the final elimination
round, has a chance do well
at state — and beyond.
Shryer, a senior, said the
program offers more than
just a chance to bring home
trophies.
“My main reason for join-
ing was for scholarship op-
portunities and it looks good
on college applications,” he
said. “I want to be an engi-
neer, so it’s pretty applicable
to my major.”
See ROBOTICS, Page 17A
POLK COUNTY — Volunteers are needed to prepare and
serve lunches to local students during Marion-Polk Food Share’s
Spring Break Lunch Program.
Spring break is March 23-27 and the program will have 41 lo-
cations in Polk and Marion counties. Each location needs at least
two volunteers to lead activities and serve lunches.
Volunteers are needed to prepare sack lunches each day
starting March 22 through March 26, lead pre-planned activities
for children at each site from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and those
willing to be “on call” to fill in for last-minute cancellations.
For more information: 503-505-1109; send an email to
SBLVolunteers@marionpolkfoodshare.org; online at www.Mari-
onPolkFoodShare.org.
Kindergarten transition seminar set
MONMOUTH — Family and Community Together will host a
“FACT Transition to Kindergarten Summit” on Feb. 21 from 11
a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Western Oregon University’s College of Edu-
cation building, 345 N. Monmouth Ave.
The event is open to the general public and is free for family
members. Admission for educators or professionals is $25. The
workshop counts for professional development units for continuing
education. The seminar will help families who have children transi-
tioning to kindergarten with an individual education plan (IEP).
Lunch will be included. RSVP for child care by emailing
noelle@factoregon.org or call 1-888-988-3228.
For more information: 503-786-6020, ext. 308; www.factore-
gon.org; or email registration@factoregon.org.
MVCA missions project a success
MONMOUTH — Mid-Valley Christian Academy recently con-
cluded its annual weeklong missions project.
The mission project was to raise funds for “Gifts from the Sta-
ble” through the national organization “Gospel for Asia.”
Students performed tasks at home, collected bottles and
cans for their refund values, and contributed their earnings daily
in the buckets marked “pepperoni” or “Hawaiian” pizza. The
bucket with the most money determined the choice for a pizza
feed at the end of the missions drive.
With $617.50 collected, Mid-Valley Christian Academy was
able to purchase three chickens, two rabbits, two pigs, two
lambs and a water buffalo for “Gifts from the Stable.”