Basketball

Tonight, the State Police took on the faculty of the High School in a rather heated basketball
game.  After watching this game, I am thinking that the teachers need to watch their speed over the next few days as they travel the roads!   One of our teachers fouled out!

Seriously, the police officers are no slouches where basketball playing is concerned.  After watching them play an effortless game, I am more impressed than ever by them.  They had just come off a twelve hour shift, and were "winding down" with a game of basketball.  They were polite, they joked with each other, and they teased the teachers.  Several of the officers had been taught by some of the teachers in the building.  The respect between the staff and the police was evident throughout the game.  The students sitting in the stands engaged in good natured banter with each other, and with the staff.  You've got to admit, when you're watching Math Teachers make 3 point shots from half court, and you're watching a social studies teacher outrun a 6'5" officer, and then pass the ball back to another player through the legs of said officer, you have to respect their athleticism.  Of course, the Officers won.  They beat the staff by seven points.  Handshakes, hugs, and high fives ruled the court at the end of the game.

I am a little curious, though.  I know the officers have tomorrow off.  I really want to know how many of the teachers end up calling in too sore to come in to work tomorrow?  You could tell that some of them were definitely feeling it when the game was over. 

Thanks to all of the staff and officers for showing the kids such great sportsmanship, and coming out to have fun with each other on a Thursday night.  You set a great example for our kids!

Eating Locally, Shopping Locally

My oldest child is home from college for his Spring Break.  It's been great having him home for a week.  Since his two siblings are still in school, he and I have been enjoying some quiet time together. 

Today, we went out to lunch.

We don't live in the city, but we don't live in the country, either.  We are the outer, outer suburbs- more rural than suburban.  Our county is 90% agricultural.  Once growing season starts, we have an abundance of local produce in the area.  But what about now?  It's March.  Our growing season hasn't started yet.

Well, oldest child's favorite restaurant is located about half an hour from our house.  It was started about 70 years ago, on the edge of the orchards and farms owned by this one family.  The restaurant has remained in the same family for 70 years.  Many of the waitresses have been working there for more than 30 years.  Up until she passed away 5 years ago, the matriarch of the family still made the pie crusts, by hand and from scratch, every morning.  She made her last pie crust two days before she passed away.

This restaurant is smack dab in the middle of farm country.  Like many of the restaurants in this part of the world, they don't advertise that they're "locally grown" and then raise the price.  They call it good business sense to buy food from local farmers and then use that in their restaurant.

I had a hamburger today.  A delicious, 100% pure beef hamburger.  That hamburger was born and raised within 10 miles of the restaurant.  It was slaughtered 10 miles down the road the other way at our butcher shop.  I once asked the owner of the butcher shop if he finished his beef on corn.  He laughed at me and told me "That's for them rich folks.  A farmer brings his cow in here, and it's ready to go.  We pay him for it.  I don't want my money sittin' out there in the feed lot gettin' fat.  I'm gonna have to pay for that feed it eats."  That's an refreshing twist on the meat industry!

My pickle was canned this past summer in the big barn just at the edge of the orchard.  The cucumbers it was made from were grown in the big fields behind the barn.  The applesauce was also canned in the barn.  The apples were picked in the orchard back in Sept. and Oct. while they were in season.  Gosh, that apple sauce was so very, very good.  No sugar added, and it tasted like sunshine.

My french fries were hand cut by the staff this morning.  The potatoes were grown five miles down the road last year.  Today, the mix was made from Yukon Gold and Red Russets.  OMG.  Those fries were to die for.  My son and I split a basket of fries that was bigger than my dinner plate.

The pie crusts were made from scratch, by hand this morning.  They were apple pies.. .made with apple pie filling that had been canned over the summer in the big barn on the edge of the orchard.

The service was amazing.  Friendly staff, they watched over us all like a pack of mother hens.  We were sitting at a table next to a Candidate who's running for the U.S. Senate.  He was eating lunch with his Grandma.  It was funny- the staff kept calling him Justin.  They've known him since he was a kid, and they think it's great that he's running for Senate, but he's still Justin.  He never made the rounds of the tables, didn't engage in any politicking, and didn't do any glad handing.  Instead, he was focused soley on his Grandma and answering her questions, telling stories, and joking.  We had one main waitress, but every waitress on staff took care of everyone.  It's just the nice thing to do.

I tell you, every time I go there, I feel like I've stepped back into the 1950's.  The service is from another era.  People take the time to listen.  They stop and treat one another like individual people.  I always run across friends while I'm there, and we'll end up table hopping after we pay our bills, talking to people we haven't seen in a while. 

It's amazing when I think about it.  Old fashioned service.  Locally grown food.  (All within a 100 mile radius.) And at a reasonable price.  ($12 for two people.)

I love supporting our locally owned businesses.  We never would have gotten that kind of service at one of the big chain restaurants down the street!

Have you helped your local businesses lately?

Chesapeake Regional

Yesterday we finished the robotics tournament. The qualifying rounds were over at noon, and the finalists were announced and the alliances were chosen. Our team was chosen to be in one of the final alliances. We lost in the quarter finals, but the kids had an amazing time. We got home late last night- around -11. The team stopped on the way home for pizza. The kids took over two booths and pushed two tables up next to them. The exhausted parents sat at a separate table and talked about how proud we are of all of our amazing kids. To have done so much, been professional throughout, and to continue to be gracious even after losing.... it speaks very high of the quality of their character.

And so, I present some more photos from the last day of competition.

I know this is hard to see, but the kids are dancing.  During a break between matches, the kids were getting down on the floor and line dancing.  I couldn't catch the width of the action on my camera- but it's about 500 kids, dancing the electric slide.

Information on FIRST robotics.  This display board explained the levels of competition, from elementary-high school, and explains the resources necessary to start a team of your own.

The drivers from one of the alliances confer before a match, planning out their team strategy.

Packing up all the "stuff" to go home.

FIRST Robotics

I spent the last two days subbing in first grade.  They were interesting days, but I'm glad they are over. 

Today, I'm chaperoning our High School Robotics team at the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier, held in Baltimore.

If you aren't familiar with FIRST robotics, I'm going to get sidetracked here for a while and tell you everything you need to know in a few quick sentences.

1) The program was begun 20 years ago by Dean Kamen. (If you've seen a Segway, you've seen his work.  He's an inventor.)  His goal was to stimulate critical and creative thinking in the Sciences and Engineering with students by giving them the opportunity to have hands on, creative, real-life problem solving skills that relate to a real-life challenge.

2) FIRST robotics has programs avaialable for children in upper elementary (grades 4-6), middle school, and high school.  Schools do not offer FIRST robotics as part of their curriculum.  It is an after school activity.  Several community organizations offer robotics programs, including the Girl Scouts, 4-H, and several Boys and Girls Clubs.

3) FIRST robotics is an international program.  Regional qualifiers are held all over the world, and the winning teams then compete at the Global Finals held in  May.

4) All of the robotics programs come with a central challenge.  I am most familiar with the high school  FRC program, so I'll outline it here:

• In January, kick off is held.  The new game is announced.  This year, your robot must be able to move around the field and shoot baskets into basketball hoops.
• Every team is given the same box of parts and the same rule book to follow.
• The kids have six weeks to build and program a working robot that meets the mandatory weight guidelines.
• After six weeks, the robots are tagged and bagged and sent off to FIRST for weighing in preparation for the tournaments.

It sounds so simple, doesn't it?  And yet, if you are familiar with the engineering field at all, you know that this challenge is not as simple as it sounds.  The kids are still in school, and they must keep their grades up at the same time that they are working on this robot.  Homework must still be turned in, and tests must still be passed.  The challenges get to the kids after a while.  Tempers fray during the last week of build season.

But then comes the magic of competition.  The kids get to put their finished product out on the field and see if it works.  They form alliances with other teams, so that there are three robots on a team, and two teams compete against each other at the same time.  Gracious professionalism rules the day.  I've seen robots catch fire during competition.  Suddenly, you'll see kids from 4 or 5 other teams out on the field, helping that poor robot, fixing the wiring, and getting it working again.  I've seen robots stop working, and other teams will give up their time-outs to make certain that the afflicted team has time to repair their robot and get it up and running again.

I tell you, you go to any robotics event anywhere in this country, and you will be struck by how wonderful, smart, kind, giving, and absolutely amazing our young people are. 

I wish these kids would get more press.  They are the quiet, unsung heroes of the next generation.

And I am so proud of ALL of them.  Not just my team- all of the teams.  These kids are simply unbelievable.

Good luck to all of the participants in all of the qualifiers around the country this weekend!

*I will be posting pictures from the Convention Center over the next few days.*

Random Pictures

Some random thoughts from around my world this week:

I found these purple beauties while out walking this week.
Honestly, it was the 28th of Feb. and 70* outside.  Is this weather crazy, or what?

I finally managed to get a picture of a train engine as it steamed by!

Getting ready for Robotics tournaments.
One of the big "things" at FRC Robotics Tournaments is button collecting.
Each team gives away buttons every year.  Here, you see the button backs.
The kids have already made 2,000 buttons in anticipation of our two regional tournaments.

The State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
I know it's not your normal view,
 but I love the play of light across the carpet!

And finally, a sweetie from the animal shelter.
This little beauty was a month old when this picture was taken.
This same night, we met a professional football player who was adopting
an animal from the shelter to take home.
How can you not love a guy who adopts from the shelter?