KU Engineering Expo

Lining things up

For the last couple of months, Caiden has been busy getting ready for the KU Engineering Expo with his ELP class. From what I can tell, Caiden thoroughly enjoyed this experience, and we are thankful for teachers (and even some parents) who were willing to put in the extra time this project required!

Last year, the kids did the Egg Drop Challenge but were unable to go compete due to a snowstorm. The main goal of this year's challenge was to program a small robot to go from Point A to Point B in less than 4 seconds, all while avoiding obstacles. Caiden's group named their robot "Robobird" and they decided to take a direct route to Point B instead of following a marked line with a light sensor.

Last Friday was the big day, so they traveled up to Lawrence and made many trial runs before getting a fast time. It sounds like the board they had at KU was not really up to par, so they had trouble with it veering to the right. (I mean really, what can you expect from KU?) Just kidding - I had to get a jab in there somewhere! After the board was straightened out, they had no trouble at all and managed to have the fastest time. They got first place out of 13 teams and the other Goessel team got third place. We are so happy that Caiden has teachers who are willing to put in the time to work on challenging projects - and who recognize when kids thrive on something like this. It takes their learning further!

We're proud of you, Caiden!

Thanks to Logan's mom for these pictures:

Not sure about the Jayhawk! :)

Comments

Surprise!

Well, I sure don't get surprised very often, but Saturday night was a huge surprise to me! I thought I was heading to Hesston for an AGCO Christmas Dinner with Chelan. He told me we needed to drop something off at Ben and Tina's house (my cousin), first. Okay, no big deal! While we were there, Ben said they were about ready to go out for dinner, did we want to come along? Surprisingly, Chelan thought about it and wanted to do it (clue #1 that something was up). I kept saying that we couldn't skip out on his dinner, but Chelan insisted that going to Wichita for dinner would be much more fun. I even said, "This seems like something you had planned!" However, I'm always up for dinner in Wichita, so I agreed, reluctantly!! We enjoyed a meal at Hangar 1 Steakhouse and I thought that was the end of it. But, on the way home, Chelan asked if we could go by the new arena since the inaugural concert was there that night -- Brad Paisley! I thought it would be f...

Spring Art

While Mrs. Schmidt was away on maternity leave during the spring, Mr. Novak (from Hesston) filled in for her. Since Cambry has her first 3 class periods in the art room, she got to know him very well and he mentioned several times how he appreciated Cambry's artistic style and way of thinking. He even let her paint a little bit on his own pieces! Cambry took several pieces to the WSL art festival in April. She came home with a first place finish in the graphic design category and an honorable mention in the computer design category. We are so thankful for the instruction she has received over the last 4 years in Goessel. Now, on to Hesston College with Professor Cross!

Off and Running!

A month into the school year and everyone seems to be clicking along . . . at least for now! We caught up with Cambry today, now in a room of her own for the very first time! She is enjoying her esports team, particularly making the social media posts and taking pictures for the team. She gets some Rocket League time in as well! And she has access to the art building pretty much when she wants it! Caiden is doing his thing at K-State and at athletic events again. And Delaney is trying to do every possible activity available in high school. Of course, her top priority is volleyball, and right now, her team is 2nd overall in 1A-1 and recently won their home tournament for the first time since 2017! And, Kenya is growing like a weed!

Days With the Duerksens

Search This Blog