The Label Printers Sponsors Geneva High School’s FIRST Team - The "Robovikes"

Dec. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Interested in more Robotics news?  Check out the links at the end of this release!
Aurora, IL, December 21, 2010  The ROBOVIKES are back.  This year’s team consists of 7 returning students and 7 students who are new to the program.  There are no seniors on the team, but there are 3 students who participated as freshmen on the ROBOVIKES rookie team, including their veteran programmer, Josh Kilmer who says that FIRST is fun and challenging, and “there’s always more you can learn.”  The team also retains its veteran volunteer faculty organizer and champion, Mary Keyzer, Social Studies teacher at Geneva High School, her husband Kevin (a ceramics engineer), and Joe Kane, The Label Printers’ prepress department manager.

The team doesn’t yet know what this year’s competition will be, so team meetings involve learning what was done in past years, and getting a chance to drive the 2009/2010 robot.  Drive perhaps not being the best description – the scene in the team’s meeting room taking perhaps more of its cue from bumper cars.  Keane Hensley, another of the veterans from the rookie team who is considering a mechanical engineering major at the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, or MIT, says that FIRST is a great program for someone who’s interested in engineering.  But he also feels the program is good for learning to work as a group, and learning how to divide up work.  And as he says, “it’s a lot better than Battle Bots.”

Twins Mitchell and Derik Baer think that the ROBOVIKES is a really good club, and that FIRST “gives kids opportunities” – as Derik says, “It’s a really interesting way to get smart kids to do things that adults couldn’t do.”  Another team veteran, junior Jack Wilbur, returned to the program because he thought that it was “awesome” last year, adding “Not a lot of kids can say they built a robot.”  Sophomore Matt Fee, another second year member, says that he really enjoyed last year’s program.  He thinks that FIRST is more “hands on.  Regular school is more learning out of a book.”  It wasn’t hard to figure out which one of those he found more interesting.

Rookie sophomore team member Michael Miltner is an avid White Sox and A.J. Pierzynski fan who played on Geneva High School’s freshman baseball team this past spring.  Michael loves the level of competition and the level of intelligence that the FIRST program requires.  He also loves “messing” with electronics and building and can’t wait to get the kit of parts.

The ROBOVIKES will receive their robot “kit” at the beginning of January, build it over the course of the next 6 weeks, and then ship it to the February competition at the UIC Pavilion.  All interested parties are invited to that competition.

Anyone interested in helping the team (space to build the robot; machine shop; engineering, robotics, video, website, or machine building mentoring; or donations of cash, goods, or services; or general volunteers) can contact The Label Printers (Elizabeth@thelabelprinters.com) or Mary Keyzer (MKeyzer@geneva304.org).


ROBOVIKE Team Members:
Juniors:  Trevor Deem, Keane Hensley, Josh Kilmer, Jake Urban, Jack Wilbur
Sophomores:  Derik Baer, Mitchell Baer, Matt Fee, Michael Miltner, Justin Mui
Freshmen:  Grif McDonell, Mike Phillips, Quade Spellman, Ken Wendt


About THE LABEL PRINTERS:
The Label Printers, Aurora, IL, started in business in 1967, manufacturing simple label constructions in a 1,000 square foot space, with 1 employee, serving the local Chicago market.
Today, the company has evolved into one of the 100 largest converters in the United States.  The Label Printers owns and operates two facilities in Aurora, Illinois, manufacturing and distributing labels and packaging products to thousands of customers in 25 countries around the world. The company’s packaging products are certified to ISO 9001 standards, and their quality is backed up by their 99.6% Quality Acceptance Rating.
The Label Printers is a member of NASPO (North American Security Products Organization), IACC (International Anticounterfeiting Coalition), CACP (Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy), TLMI (Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute) and the FTA (Flexographic Technical Association).

About Geneva High School (Community Unit School District 304)
Geneva Community High School is over 130 years old and has over 1,800 students, 150 faculty members, and offers more than 150 courses in eleven academic areas.  Students may also enroll in one of thirty-seven academic courses in the Fox Valley Career Center curriculum.  Advanced placement and honors courses are offered in all academic areas supported by the expansion of our Acceleration and Enrichment program.  
While maintaining an outstanding tradition of excellence in education, athletic and extracurricular programs, our school provides a wide variety of community service learning experiences throughout Geneva and the Fox Valley.  Our experienced administrative team and dedicated staff, along with the support of the community of Geneva, offer one of the finest educational opportunities available throughout the state of Illinois.

About the FIRST Robotics Competition:
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an annual competition that helps students discover the excitement of science, engineering, and technology and the rewards a career in STEM can bring. More than 45,000 high-school students on over 1,800 teams from the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Herzegovina, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the U.K. participated in last year’s competition.
In 1992, the FIRST Robotics Competition began with 28 teams and a single 14-by-14-foot playing field in a New Hampshire high school gym. This season more than 1,800 teams – including 278 rookie teams – will participate. Forty-three regional competitions in the U.S., Canada, and Israel, plus seven district competitions and one state championship in Michigan, will lead up to the 2010 FIRST Championship, April 27 – 30, in St. Louis.
FIRST programs are spearheaded by more than 90,000 dedicated volunteers worldwide, most of them professional engineers and scientists who mentor the next generation of innovators.
Participating students are eligible to apply for nearly $12 million in scholarships offered by leading universities, colleges, and companies.
About FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology):
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from three out of every five Fortune 500 companies and nearly $12 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) and FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC®) for high-school students, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S. and Canada) and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL) for 6 to 9-year-olds. Gracious Professionalism™ is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.

FIRST 2011 CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT –
APRIL 27 – 30 – Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO

NATIONAL ROBOTICS WEEK –
APRIL 9 THROUGH 17
www.nationalroboticsweek.org/

EDUCATE TO INNOVATE –
A campaign announced by President Obama to improve the participation and performance of America’s students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
See the demonstration of a FIRST team’s Lunacy robot at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/educate-innovate

# # #

The Label Printers began in 1967, manufacturing simple label constructions in a 1,000 sq. ft. space, with 1 employee, serving the Chicago market. They are one of the largest converters in the U.S., selling labels & packaging products around the world.