In the News

Today Newspaper DeSoto Thursday, March 3, 2005 Page 2
Cambridge Square takes top honors
Robotics teams place first, second

Left: Cambridge Square Private School students earning first place at the Texas Computer Education Association robotics competition included Jamelle Shaw, Billy Coleman, Scott Helton, Andrew Pierce and Chris Irby.
Right: LaDana Binion and Halei Massey were on the second place team of the robotics competition Feb. 9 in Austin.

    The Texas Computer Education Association announced that Cambridge Square Private School robotics team won first, second and fourth place in the sixth annual TCEA Robotics Arena, Division II contest in Austin Feb. 9.

    Five teams from DeSoto-based Cambridge Square Private School attended the competition. They faced 65 teams from throughout the state. First place students included Jamelle Shaw, Billy Coleman, Scott Helton, Andrew Pierce and Chris Irby. LaDana Binion and Halei Massey were on the second place team.

    The TCEA contest is held in conjunction with the organization's annual convention and exposition, in which thousands of educators attend to participate in professional development and view the latest in educational technology projects.

    At the robotics contest, participating students from Texas elementary and secondary schools design, collaborate, plan redesign, construct, create, assemble, invent, reinvent, write, present and compete to see who has developed the smartest robot. The contests vary based on strategies that involve speed, accuracy, sensing objects and light. A programmable robot is limited only to the imagination of its inventor.

    Robotics Division I includes high school students and Division II includes middle school students. There are two types of contests in each of the two divisions.

    In the arena contests, students use marketing, programming, writing, constructing and presentation skills to find a solution for a problem of their choice.

    TCEA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the integration of technology into curriculum and instruction. It has more than 8,500 members in the state.

Dallas Morning News    Monday, February 28, 2005 page 4B
Education Notes
DeSoto Students prove stiff competitors at robotics meet
by Kent Fischer, Staff Writer

    Cambridge Square, a DeSoto private school, came back with top honors after competing in the Texas Computer Education Association's Robotics Contest in Austin this month.

    Teams from Cambridge Square built programmable cars that steered ping-pong balls across a 16-square foot playing field. Competing against 65 other teams of fourth- through eighth-graders, the Cambridge Square students moved enough of the plastic balls to win first and second place in the tournament's Division II "arena" competition, in which students try to overcome a prescribed problem. Another team from the school was ranked fourth.

    Another Dallas-area school, Christ the King School, received a second-place award in the Division II "inventions" competition, in which students have to come up with a problem of their choice and solve it by building and marketing an invention.

    Middle school students compete in Division II.

    Cambridge Square participates in the tournament each year and uses the competition to bolster its science curriculum. Eighth-grader Scott Helton has competed four times, but Wednesday was the first time his steam won.

    "It was a great experience, plus you get a couple of days off from school," said Scott, who was the captain of the champion "Big Dudes" team. Other team members were eighth-graders Billy Coleman, Chris Irby, Andrew Pierce and seventh-grader Jamelle Shaw.

    LaDana Binion and Halei Massey, Cambridge's "Angels on Fire" team of fourth-grade girls, took home second place. "Fanatics" -- fifth-and sixth-graders Jordan Johnson, Whit Fagan, Brandon Simmons and Jacob Steward -- were ranked fourth.

    The Christ the King team -- fifth-graders James Douglas, Westford Lang, Grace Godvin, Kimberly Fernandez, Raleigh Ward, Carlos Girod and Clark Durham -- constructed the "Autumnator," an invention that picked up leaves. The team captain was Casey Dow, who teaches talented and gifted students at the school.

Today Newspaper DeSoto Thursday, February 3, 2005 Front page
Students take third at first-time competition
Cambridge square team makes its mark
by Daphne Brown, News Editor

A team of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade Cambridge Square Private School students took third place in the 2004 National Engineers Week future City competition Jan. 24.

      Cambridge Square Private School students aim high in every aspect of their education.

     A team of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students proved that once they make up their minds everyone else should watch and take notes, school Principal John R. Wilhite said.

     The team earned third place in state competition at the 13th annual National Engineers Week Future City Competition, held Jan. 24, at The University of Texas at Arlington. It was their first time to compete in the competition.

     "The parents and kids voted to participate in the competition, mainly because it combined art, computers, science and engineering," Wilhite said. The team also was recognized with a special award for "Best Civil Engineering Design" for constructing the most innovative systems for a community, including transportation, water and wastewater.

     "When we go to a competition, we try to pretty much take control," he said.

     Wilhite said that the Future City competition introduces students to engineering through practical applications of math and science and hands-on work with engineers. Assisting the students with the project were teacher Mick Wilhite and engineering mentor Tim Mueck.

     "Students designed their future cities on computers using award-winning SimCity software provided by Maxis, and they used a blueprint to build their model of a city section," Wilhite said. "They also wrote an essay about creative uses for aggregates in a Future City and wrote an abstract about their city."

     The competition included three phrases: computer design, essay and abstract and the model. They competed against 40 teams overall.

     The first-place team will travel to Washington D.C., courtesy of the National Engineers Week Committee, for the finals competition during National Engineers Week, Sunday-Saturday, Feb. 20-26. The national winning team received a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., provided by Bentley Systems, Inc.

     The team's winnings included $500 for Cambridge Square and $225 for the team. A portion of the total will be used to sponsor next year's team and the rest will be used toward a pizza party for this year's team, which includes Brianna Massey, Karynah Diaz, Lorna Richardson, Jennifer Narayana, Andrew Pierce, Jacob Steward, Whitlee Fagan, Jordan Johnson, Jamelle Shaw and Brandon Simmons. Team members who made the presentation at the competition were Chris Irby, Scott Helton and Billy Coleman.

     Next week, another team of students will attend a state competition in robotics, which they always do well in, Wilhite said.

Today Newspaper DeSoto Thursday, June 3, 2004 page 2
Cambridge Square Private students win NASA competition

Cambridge Square Private School students, second grade (left) and third and fourth grade students were recent winners in the NASA competition. They were among 3,600 students to participate.

     Cambridge Square Private School today announced that students in two science classes, Diana Howard's third and fourth grade class and Amy Brock's second grade class, have been awarded second and third places, respectively, in the NASA Student Involvement Program's (NSIP's) 2004 competition. Howard's third and fourth grade students are being honored for their work on their observations and descriptions of the Cambridge Square playground and Brock's second grade students were honored for their study of the DeSoto Town Center picnic area by the amphitheater.

     NSIP is a national program that stimulates math, science, technology and geography excellence through six competition categories designed for students K-12. The competitions are My Planet Earth, Science and Technology Journalism, Design a Mission to Mars and Beyond, Watching Earth Change, Aerospace Technology Engineering Challenge, and Space Flight Opportunities.

     More than 3,600 students submitted more than 1,500 entries to this year's competitions. Student engage in research that promotes critical-thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration skills.

     Second grade students were Shekinah Berry, Aria Biehl, Peyton Brock, Toby Crouch, Mi'Kiala Ferguson, Ariel Hall, Khie Johnson, Naairah Lott, Bronwyn McNully, Tariq Mustafaa, Jasmine Shaw and Elijah White. Third and fourth grade students are Tyler Champagne, Brandon Fitzgerald, Halei Massey, Nathan Nicholson, Ira Nunley, Maya Skinner, Joshua Steward, Tia Warren, Jerrica Brooks, Elyse Bryant, Keaton Goodwyn, Cheyenne Granger, Marcus Howard, Bria Kolski and Alec Silva.

Today Newspaper DeSoto Thursday, April 15, 2004 page 5
Cambridge Square students win big at
PSIA competition

     Seven students at Cambridge Square Private School recently won top honors at the Private Schools Interscholastic Association (PSIA) District 1A Competition held in Garland.

     The purpose of this competition was to motivate students to find new excitement in learning, achieve a higher mastery level and to receive recognition and awards for academic excellence. Students were given the opportunity to compete against other private schools in 67 contests. The top two winners in each contest automatically advance to the State Competition.

     Cambridge Square entered 21 students in five categories and had at least one student in every category to win second place or better.

     Winners in the creative writing competition were Bronwyn McNully, Meaghan Pearson, Toby Crouch, Naomi Thompson, and Naairah Lott.

     In poetry interpretation winners were Jerrica Brooks, Brandon Simmons, Andrew Pierce, Elyse Bryant, Whit Fagan, Megan York and Cynthia Hernandez.

     In storytelling, McNully, Crouch, Antonio Soto, Meaghan Pearson and Shekinah Berry.

     In the area of math, winners were Ashley Binz, Jordan Johnson, Shanan Ahmad, and Chris Irby.

     In spelling, Tariq Mustafaa, Tia Warren, Whit Fagan, Bryant, Peyton Brock, Shanan Ahmad, Aria Biehl and Jordan Johnson received recognition.

     The students placing either first or second places will advance to the PSIA state competition, which will be held at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth Saturday, April 24.

Today Newspaper DeSoto Thursday, April 8, 2004 page 3
Cambridge Square Private Poets’ Society

     Eleven students from Cambridge Square Private School have been selected to have their original poems published. Earlier in the year, the students participated in a poetry program through their English classes that was designed to foster creative expression among young people. The students were encouraged to submit their poetry for consideration of publication. This month, 11 of the students received confirmation that their poems have been selected for publication. The original poems will be published in The Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans went to press March 31 and will be available for distribution the beginning of September.

Today Newspaper DeSoto      Thursday, March 25, 2004, page 8
Top testers
Cambridge Square students early Duke University TIP posts

        Five Cambridge Square Private School students were chosen to participate in the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP). The students, Shanan Ahmad, Whitlee Fagan, Chris Irby, Ashley Binz and Billy Coleman, were chosen based on standardized test scores.

        TIP is a national leader in identifying academically talented students and providing innovating programs and resources to support the development of these students educational potential. The goals of the program are to motivate students to focus on their academic achievement, reward positive performance, offer independent learning opportunities for students and provide an optional above-level testing experience.

       These students will receive a bi-annual newsletter specifically designed for high ability fourth and fifth graders and the sevenths graders will participate in above-level testing with test designed for college-bound juniors and seniors.

       Through the sharing of information, programming, recognition ceremonies and special testing, TIP hopes to motivate, enrich and academically challenge some of the community’s brightest young people.

       Five Cambridge Square Private School students, in the seventh (left photo) and fourth grades (right photo) were selected for the Duke University Talent Identification Program, a national recognition for academically gifted students.

Today Newspaper DeSoto      Thursday, February 12, 2004, page 3
York takes third in writing competition

     Megan York, an eighth grade student at Cambridge Square Private School, has been named the third place winner in the National Junior High Division in Narration Writing Competition. This competition was sponsored by the Writing Conference, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing services to students interested in reading and writing.

     The contest was open to all U.S. students in grades 1-12 and was divided into three sections—elementary, junior and senior high.   Student could enter their work under three writing categories—poetry, narration or exposition.

     For her efforts, Megan has been invited to attend the annual Writing Conference Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the University of Kansas to receive her award and her essay will be published in the April edition of The Writer’s Slate.

Today Newspaper DeSoto Thursday, February 12, 2004, page 2
Cambridge Square student qualifies for state vocabulary competition

     Lorna Richardson, a sixth grade student at Cambridge Square Private School, was recently named the local champion of the Reader’s Digest National Word Power challenge. She will advance to the Texas State Level Competition, which will be held Friday, February 27 in San Antonio.

     This year’s World Challenge Competition began in early August, with thousands of schools across the United States participating. Students took a written vocabulary test and the top 100 scores from each state were selected to move on to the State Level championships in February.

     If Richardson is successful at the State Competition, the Reader’s Digest National Word Power Challenge will provide her and her teacher/escort an all-expense-paid trip to the National
Championship in late March 2004 where she will be eligible to win up to $25,000 in college
scholarships.

According to Debby Wilhite, assistant principal at Cambridge Square Private School, “Our students worked very on these vocabulary quizzes and we are very proud that Lorna was among the top scorers. We wish her luck at the State competition in San Antonio.”

Today Newspaper DeSoto Thursday, November 20, 2003 Front Page
By Daphne Brown, News Editor
Cambridge prepares to square off at state contest

Today Newspaper    Thursday, May 8, 2003, page 10
Cambridge Blasts Off with Space Day Celebration

     Many youngsters dream of traveling into space. Cambridge Square Private School was one of 524 schools selected to participate in the Signatures in Space program this year during Space Day. Space Day is a day set aside to celebrate the world’s achievements in space exploration and research and to look ahead to future space challenges. Thursday, May 1st the lucky students of Cambridge Square got to live that dream vicariously when their personal signatures travel aboard a U.S. Space Shuttle mission with the Student Signatures in Space program. Each participating school is sent a giant poster for students to sign. Their signatures will be returned and photographed. The negatives will be launched with the crew of an upcoming Space Shuttle mission. After the mission, the posters will be returned to the schools, along with a photo of the crew that carried the signatures up and a flight certification verifying that the signatures flew in space. Signatures in Space, a nationwide project associated with Space Day and culminates the "Embrace Space" educational initiative, intended to inspire future generations to continue the vision of our space pioneers and to encourage science, math and technology education.

     Students spent the day in interdisciplinary activities such as a cyber web cast, computer flight simulation games, experimenting with gravity pull, simulating flight in a space craft, converting their earth weight to moon weight, playing a game where the students were turned around to create disorientation and then having to get a ball into a bucket to simulate docking, and performing astronaut physicals. Other activities included a spelling bee with space terms, creating original mission patches, converting their name to international phonetic code used by pilots, listing 101 reasons to explore space through creative writing, making sun finger-paint posters, creating candy robots and comets from tissue paper and Styrofoam balls, "moon rocks" toss, rocket "blast off", human powered rocket race, glider races, glove relay simulating space suit activities, and songs and stories from space. After a fun-filled and exciting day, students finished the day with Milky Way and Mars candy bars.

     Sponsored by NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. in addition to dozens of educational and space advice groups, Space Day is an occasion to focus attention on what has been accomplished in space and to anticipate all that is possible through vigorous continuation of space exploration. Space Day’s educational component—built around a series of classroom activities that continue year-round—is designed to heighten student's enthusiasm for space and to promote their interest in math and science.

Today Newspaper    Thursday, April 3, 2003, page 2
CSPS students' creativity recognized

     Cambridge Square Private School announced that students in Amy Brock's first grade science class were awarded third place in the NASA Student Involvement Program's (NSIP's) 2002-03 competition. The students are being honored for their work on a print article discussing the history of flight.

     NSIP is a national program that stimulates math, science, technology, and geography excellence through six competition categories designed for students in grades K-12. The competitions were "My Planet Earth," "Science & Technology Journalism," "Design a Mission to Mars," "Watching Earth Change," "Aerospace and Technology Engineering Challenge," and "Space Flight Opportunities."

     More than 3,500 students submitted 1,300 entries to this year's competitions. Students engage in research that promotes critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration skills.

     Student entries are judged at NASA Centers by teams of scientists, engineers, educators, journalists, and other professionals, who select first, second, and third place winners. The Cambridge Square winner was judged and selected at NASA Johnson Space Center. The students will receive an NSIP medal and certificates from NSIP.

     NASA headquarters will officially announce the names of all NSIP winners in mid-April and post the names on the NSIP website at http://www.education.nasa.gov.

     "NSIP is an important part of NASA's efforts to inspire the next generation of explorers. Because 2003 marks the centennial of powered flight, we are especially pleased to recognize students whose achievements can guide the next 100 years," said Lynn Marra, NSIP program officer at NASA headquarters. "We are proud to honor their success and have them on the NASA team."

     Brock's first grade students involved in the competition were: Shekinah Berry, Aria Biehl, Peyton Brock, Hunter Choate, Toby Crouch, Mi'Kiala Ferguson, Ariel Hall, Naairah Lott, Cameron Maxwell, Bronwyn McNully, Tariq Mustafaa, Jasmine Shaw, Jessica Sloat, and Elijah White.

Today Newspaper Thursday, March 6, 2003, page 2
School Daze

     An Early Childhood class at Cambridge Square Private School celebrated the 100th day of school January 24. They read books and did arts and crafts activities in celebration. Pictured are (back row from left) Language Arts teacher Zandra Torrez and students Bryson Shaw, Stacy Polk and Vanessa Cannaday. Students Daria Douglas and Chloe Perry are on the front row.

Dallas Morning News, Southwest Friday, February 14, 2003, Front Page
Students clean up in robotics competition
Teamwork teaches long-lasting lessons in technology, math
by Holly Warren, Staff Writer

     Sweepers searching and feathers fluttering, Wonderbird flung checkers out of its way to clean the room. It's like an exotic bird from another planet, said programmer/builder Malcolm Sandy.

     Malcolm and three other 9-year olds--also known as the Justice League--from Cambridge Square Private School in DeSoto demonstrated what their robot did to place third last week in the Division II "Sweep Your Room" challenge of the Texas Computer and Engineering Academy State Robotics Contest in Austin.

     The team was one of five from Cambridge Square that competed against 39 other teams. Division II included students in grades four through eight.

     "It's a combination of math and technology and computers. And it's something fun to do," said assistance principal Deborah Wilhite.

     Robots compete in a 3-foot by 3-foot room marked off by tape. A 12-ounce can of Spam represents a bed and acts as an obstacle. The robot has two minutes to move as much "trash"--represented by 10 checkers--out of the room as possible. If the room is cleaned before the time limit, the team wins the round.

     The team captain places the robot and turns it on. After that, it's up to the robot and the students programming skills.

     Although each team member had a specific job, everyone was required to learn all jobs.

     "It's fun to learn," said Sarah Choate, builder for the Robo Kids team. "I liked how we worked together."

     Planning and preparation began in August, when 18 students formed five teams. Although robotics is on Cambridge Square's science curriculum, the project is extracurricular. Parents were coaches.

     "They see that constant work and perseverance are rewarded," Mrs. Wilhite said. "It's good for instilling good habits in the kids."

     The groups met every Wednesday afternoon. As the competition approached they added Saturdays to their work schedule.

     Lots of Saturdays were spent working here," said principal John Wilhite. "They had to devote lots of time."

     Participants also had to keep their grade average above 80 and maintain good behavior, Mr. Wilhite said.

     The teams advanced to the state level after placing in the top eight at regional at Las Colinas in October. The Justice League placed first in that competition. Another team of boys, the Cavaliers, placed third in regionals and sixth at state.

     Ashley Sanchez said Ol' Bessie, her team's robot, taught her a thing or two.

     "We just learned things. When we program our robots, we have to know exactly where to start them," said Ashley, a team captain.

     The students used MindStorm Kits, made by LEGO, to build and program the robots. The kits include a microcomputer, software, two motors, two sensors, one light sensor, a transmitter, and more than 700 LEGO elements.

     The computer software enables programmers to plan how the robot will react when it meets an obstacle. The robot will back up and turn left or right, based on the programmer's instructions. The programmer must also decide how many seconds the robot moves in a particular direction.

     "To get them to focus is a challenge to the coaches," Mr. Wilhite said. "If you made anything fun, it's no longer hard work."

     The process requires a lot of trial and error.

     Brianna Massey, an alternate for the Robo Kids, estimated her team held an average of 15 practice runs each week for months. After each run, the teams would record the data and make modifications based on their observations.

Today Newspaper      Thursday, January 2, 2003, page 5
Cambridge Square studies Wrights and history of Flight

(Left picture) Principal John Wilhite share information with second grade students about Russian jets on display at Lancaster Airport.

(Right picture) David Stone, Mona Ahmed, Maya Wagner and Tisha Berrier observe Chinyere Ukpabi as she tried to take off and fly a jet over Tokyo in a simulator exercise.

Cambridge Square Private School began a countdown to the Wright Brothers' 100th anniversary of flight December 17. The school coordinated with the Lancaster Airport, Air Salvage of Lancaster, NASA, the Civil Air Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration to participate in a day of recognition for the Wright Brothers' accomplishment 99 years ago.

Students flew in a flight simulator, saw a film from NASA, did individual projects and visited Lancaster Airport and Lancaster Air Salvage.

Today Newspaper      Thursday, November 7, 2002 Front Page
By Mandy Morgan, Today Staff

Cambridge Square Robotic team wins Region 10 meet

     Five teams from Cambridge Square Private School won first, third, fourth, fifth and eighth places at an annual robotics competition Oct. 26 in Irving.
     They competed in the fourth-eighth grade division of Region 10. The students will go on to compete at the state level Feb. 5 in Austin.
     Even after winning two first-place prizes in last year's competition, Assistant Principal Debby Wilhite was still impressed with her students who competed against teams from High Park, Frisco, and Irving.
     "For a small private school to end up winning two years in a row, it was neat." she said.
     Beverly Gibbs, a Cambridge Square teach who also coaches the robotic teams, said she remembers attending the competition for the first time last year.
     "When I walked in, it was like, we can't do this. Let's go home," Gibbs said.
     But the Cambridge Square students have once again proven their ability to excel in working with LEGO's Mindstorm robotics products.
     "It (Mindstorm) is designed to teach kids how to build and program," Gibbs said. "We learn how to build a robot, using gears and making it move and do certain commands."
     Students build LEGOs around a microcomputer. On a laptop computer, the Mindstorm teams drag LEGO-looking icons across the screen to build a graphic, object-oriented program that controls the robot's movements and timing.
     The programs they write are then downloaded to the microcomputer that is at the center of the robot's body.
     The robot is given the command to start and goes about fulfilling the task it was given by the programmers.
     For this year's competition, the task was a basic version of cleaning a bedroom. A SPAM can decorated to look like a miniature bed was placed in the center of a three-by-three foot area outlined in black tape. Ten plastic checker game pieces were placed around the SPAM can. A car robot's job was to shove as many checker pieces out of the tape-lined boundaries as possible during two minutes without pushing the can out of bounds. Each team had their own robot and "bedroom" to clean as they competed against each other.
     "If you of the cars gets all 10 (checker pieces) out before the other one, it wins automatically," said Principal John Wilhite.    "If one of the cars shoves the SPAM can out, the time stops. They get credit for the number of articles they push out to that point. At the end of two minutes, the one who has the most pieces out wins."
     Gibbs said that her students learn Mindstorm through trial and error both when they practice and when they compete.
     "Sometimes kids will get up there and theirs won't work at all or their won't do the program," Gibbs said. "Sometimes you have everything perfect, you go and then something goes wrong. It might be they pushed the wrong program."
     At a competition in Austin, seventh-grader Billy Coleman learned a valuable lesson.
     "You have to change the batteries really fast before you lose the program and that's what happened in Austin that made us get out." he said.
     Jenny Castillo, a fifth-grader, understands how much patience her robotics projects require.
     "Things go wrong and you can't change it," Castillo said. "You don't have to get frustrated about it."
     Robotics students also learn teamwork and delegation of tasks by working together for at least an hour once a week after school.
     "They all want to be the one who starts the robot," Gibbs said. "We ended up having to divide the jobs. It's like a little company. Certain ones do more of the programming. Some do more of the actual building. Some get to start it.
     Four parents volunteer their time as robotics coaches. Raymond Johnson, one of the coaches, incorporates math, science and English into his robotics sessions with the fourth-grade team.
     "I have them do a pattern test where they put pieces around the board to see how much of the board the robot covers in two minutes," Johnson said. "That would be information for us to make adjustments for covering more or less of the board."
     He also teaches students to calculate the average number of checker pieces their robots push out of bounds, record data, use the scientific method and write programs.
     Principal Wilhite said he thinks the robotics projects are a fun way for the students to learn.
     "When you were in school, the courses that were fun are the ones you excelled in," Principal Wilhite said. "It (Mindstorm) is a combination. It's mechanical, building something and it's creative. It's computer programming and it's technological. It's beyond the teamwork. It puts them a step ahead of so many people in their generation and ours."