Students Rachel McVittie (left) and Lily Gomberg address the school committee.
After spending a season fundraising, building, competing, doing community outreach and finally being honored for all that work with an invitation to the World Championship, the Newton LigerBots may face their biggest challenge yet in getting to St. Louis: buses.
The Newton Schools allows students to use only a select few bus companies because those are the companies that have been vetted. Also, rides are not allowed to extend through the night, so for trips like the one to St. Louis, an added expense comes into play in terms of a night in a hotel. All this is for good reason: the accident in 2001 that took the lives of four Oak Hill Middle School students while on a band trip.
The problem is that all the bus companies are tied up thanks to the Boston Marathon and they don’t have a single bus to let us use. Frankly, most of the companies around New England are booked up. We did find a single bus, but the company isn’t on the Newton Schools’ list and when we asked, we were told “sorry, no can do.”
The LigerBots looked into a number of alternatives, including chartering a plane. None appears to be viable. FIRST has reserved a number of buses, (this would be our most cost-effective solution) but because those drive through the in one single 20 hour drive, our students are not permitted to take them.
So last night a few members of the team showed up at the Newton School Committee meeting to ask for help. Either approve a bus or give us some answer as to how we can get there.
Team members Lily Gomberg and Rachel McVittie spoke very well during open comment, laying out a clear yet passionate plea. It was great to hear the cheering that went up immediately after they spoke from the mass of yellow-clad teachers who were there in large numbers to argue for their contracts. I’m going to leave that story to those who know it better than I.
Immediately after open comment Superintendent David Fleishman gave an open commendation to the LigerBots for their weekend win, something he had apparently been planning to do regardless.
Now we wait and see if we can find a way to get there. In the meantime we continue our fundraising efforts, because once we clear this hurdle we face a financial one.
I hope a solution can be found. It would be a shame, and ironic, if the Boston Marathon kept the Ligerbots from their goal. :(
So even with Lily Gombergs mother on the SC they could not clear this hurdle?? Then how are the rest of us supposed to do anything in the NPS?? You would think it would not take Public Comment at SC a week before this event to get an answer as to how they are supposed to get there. This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable IMHO – they have such a great opportunity for them and the NPS.
This should have taken a phone call to the Superintendent office or the SC chair to resolve it. It is beyond any logic one can imagine. Only in Newton.
What Joanne said.
This is too long a bus ride for a school sponsored trip. Let’s not forget the lessons from our communities past. The School Committee needs to find a way to fly the team to St. Louis.
I trust and hope the NPS can figure this out quickly. It would be a damning embarrassment if our city can’t figure out a solution promptly after our students delivered on their ends so stunningly. I have faith we’ll deliver on our end too.
The team took a bus last year and stayed overnight along the way. It adds to the cost, but it’s doable.
As for flying, that has its own set of issues. From our research only one commercial airline could have chartered us a flight (we planned to work with other New England teams to fill the plane) but the airline could not find a plane for us to use. Commercial tickets out of Boston are very expensive that week because of the timing. School vacation sends the prices pretty high.
The cheaper flights are out of New York. Of course, getting to New York has many of the same issues as getting to St. Louis.
This one’s very personal for me.
As an engineering student at Northeastern Univ, my friend and I won the freshman design competition a week before the national competition in Colorado. The school had promised that the winners would be entered in the national competition. When the promise was made they were envisioning sending out reports, drawings, charts, etc via UPS.
The problem was we had gotten a local company to donate a pinball machine to us and we had built the prototype of a pinball machine for quadriplegics. The first response was “sorry, there’s no way we can get that there”. We were devastated.
Two very resourceful administrators scrambled and improvised and manage to sort everything out within about 48 hours. They arranged for our finals to be cancelled or rescheduled. They found some funding in a few different departments budget and a few days later we loaded the pinball machine into my friends van and drove it to Colorado.
We took 3rd place in the national competition and that award was instrumental in my getting my first engineering job. I’ll be forever grateful to those two NU deans for making it happen.
So whatever help I can offer the Ligerbot’ers — sign me up.
From what I’m hearing, there’s lots of folks scrambling behind the scenes. One thing is clear though. All solutions are going to involve money. You can help get our championship Ligerbot team to St Louis, by donating here.
@Jerry: Thank you for getting the relevant info to those of us who would like to support our talented Newton students as they scramble to get transportation to venture out to this national competition in St. Louis. Hubby and I have just sent a donation and hope a lot of others will, too! (The cheapest flights I could find online were almost $400 each way! Yuch!!!)
Without looking this up on your Smartphone, desktop or Ipad, (I”M WATCHING YOU) who knows the origin of the word: robot? First one to get it right (here on V14) gets a free ice cream cone from me!
@Sallee – Nice!
No idea on the etymology of “robot”. I’d guess it was originally coined in a science fiction story.
Thank you Sallee, and anyone else who has sent a donation. I linked to the donations pages in all the LigerBots articles so far and will continue to do so. These are truly great kids. We’re also looking for sponsors, but that’s a different discussion.
I don’t know the origin of robot, but I believe that android came from Isaac Asimov and was based on his wife’s name. At least, that’s what my son tells me.
These great students need to get to this competition. I wish I could help with the physical logistics, but I did make a donation. This is too important to those kids who have worked so hard and to NPS not to get this done!!
Robot comes from Stanislav Lem, RUR.
Oops – just realized I conflated two things in my answer. Oh well, donation’s still made. :)
I know I broke the rules by googling, but the etymology is so interesting I feel at least a little redeemed.
robot (n.)
1923, from English translation of 1920 play “R.U.R.” (“Rossum’s Universal Robots”), by Karel Capek (1890-1938), from Czech robotnik “slave,” from robota “forced labor, compulsory service, drudgery,” from robotiti “to work, drudge,” from an Old Czech source akin to Old Church Slavonic rabota “servitude,” from rabu “slave,” from Old Slavic *orbu-, from PIE *orbh- “pass from one status to another” (see orphan). The Slavic word thus is a cousin to German Arbeit “work” (Old High German arabeit). According to Rawson the word was popularized by Karel Capek’s play, “but was coined by his brother Josef (the two often collaborated), who used it initially in a short story.”
@mega…you had me confused for a minute. Let was bro in 1921. Word was coined 1920! Partly right, tho. That deserves 1 dip. Person with what answer gets 2.
Thanks Sallee – I remembered RUR correctly, misremembered the author. As a long time SF fan since childhood, shame on me for forgetting it was Capek. Oh well, neither Lem nor Capek named any of their robots Liger ;)
As far as the word ‘robot’ is concerned, I do not know where it was first used, but I have heard it comes from the Slavic/Russian word “работ” (rabot) which means ‘to work’, which comes from the same root as “раб” (rab) which means ‘slave’.
@Ilias: Marti is an excellent researcher and got the origin correct! Karl Capek was the first to use the term in 1920 in R.U.R., “Rossum’s Universal Robots” (the year before Lem was born, mgwa). I read the play in high school and thought of robots at that time as figments of a distant future (somewhat like “1984”!). I know that dates me, but robots have come a long way, Baby! Just think, the future Ligerbots or “Trippers” may be competing in a teleportation championship in 2030 and may be able to get to the competition by way of their own intellectual transportation!!!
@mgwa: You came closest, without cheating, so you can have a double dipper. But tell me how to get it to you!
@Marti – even tho’ you cheated, you self-reported and educated the other readers so well that I’ll be happy to provide you with a single dip cone, too.
@Greg: How do I pay this debt to these winners?
You should send an ice cream bearing robot to their house of course.
Sallee – since you’re a public figure, it’s probably easiest for us to contact you.
My figure’s been called a lot of things, but this is the first time it has worn “public” as an attribute! You guys could actually make me worry that I have crossed over to the dark side!
Anyone know where can I hire a robot?
Sallee, thanks for letting me slide by. Google is your friend. I really like Jerry’s idea of an ice cream delivering robot, Rice Ream Robot, a la Scooby.
An English friend is supporting their national champion team who need to raise airfare, all of whom are homeschoolers. She said that “the First Prize was announced by the Government Minister for Education – who proceeded to thank their teachers and their schools at some length.” :)