Rising Star award given to John Paul II Catholic School students

Robotics students at John Paul II Catholic School won the Rising Star Award at the South Texas First LEGO League Lone Star Championship.

The event was held on Jan. 7 at John H. Reagan High School in Houston. The FLL is a competition for 9- to 14-year-olds. Students are presented with a challenge that focuses on a real-world, science-related topic. There are four main sections of the competition: teamwork activity, technical presentation, research project and task completion by a designed robot.

The 4-H Club provided a grant, which funded the robotics materials used. The 4-H Robo-kids, as the John Paul II students called themselves, are part of John Paul II’s Stretch Program. Headed by John Paul II teacher June Kollar, the Stretch Program offers a deepening and broadening of the curriculum. This was the team’s first year of competition.

The theme for the 2011 challenge was "Food Factor." The 4-H Robo-kids researched food safety, specifically the safety of bringing lunch to school. After determining that the safest temperature at which to store food was 40 degrees or lower, the students then tested the temperature in the lockers and lunchboxes of those who brought their lunches. They discovered that most of the lunches registered at air temperature, except for those stored in frozen gel-containing Pack-Its.

The students earned the Best Research Award in the qualifying competition in December. In the January championship, approximately 60 teams competed, about 20 of which were rookie teams. The 4-H Robo-kids received the Rising Star Award, which is given to rookie teams that exhibit the most potential.

John Paul II Catholic School, a 2008 National Blue Ribbon Exemplary school, is located in West Houston and serves more than 700 students from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. For more information about John Paul II school, visit www.jp2.org.