Having fun learning math & science at OTA? Interested in applying your acquired knowledge in an exciting and relevant real world challenge? Then consider joining one of OTA’s after-school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) programs.

• Our first offering of the year, FIRST Lego League Robotics Club, starts this week (first meeting is this Tuesday 10/9) and runs through November 10^th.  Meetings will occur every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30-5:00 with an occasional meeting on Saturday if needed. This year we will be fielding 2 teams of about 8 students each and if there is enough interest, we will try to have one of our teams be an all ladies team since we had 23 boys and only 1 girl last year. In order to cover the tournament, registration & the purchase of new robotics equipment, the cost is $120 per student. Open to students age 9 and older. http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2012seniorsolutions
• Our second STEM opportunity, Science Olympiad, happens between the months of November to the beginning of February. This program is open to all students in grades 6-8 and has a variety of challenges in the fields of mathematics, science & engineering. The competition is on February 2^nd and although we are only able to field a team of 15 students, any and all students who choose to compete in at least 1 Science Olympiad event will earn a minimum of 1 flying color point for science! This competition depends a lot on self-motivation and may be done either individually or with a partner for the majority of the events. Program costs TBD.  Open to middle school students grades 6-8. Event information can be found at: http://www.sandiegoso.org/div_b.html
• Our final STEM challenge is our Botball Robotics Program, which starts in December and runs through March. Students construct semi autonomous robots using a variety of mixed building material including Lego and metal components and program them using the C programming language. This program requires the greatest time commitment in that during the main 7-week season we meet twice a week after school and every Saturday for about 4 hours. We anticipate fielding a single team with about 6-10 members from grades 6-8. Program costs TBD. More information can be found at www.botball.org

Note popularity for these challenges is very, very high and we might have more interest for some challenges than we have spaces. To make our opportunities more equitable and reflective of our “Outstanding Osprey” spirit the placement criteria for challenges is as follows:

1. Students who have never participated in an event have priority over those who have.
2. Students who are a higher-grade level have priority over those who are of a lower grade level.
3. Preference will be given to students who have demonstrated characteristics of being Outstanding Ospreys, particularly students who are respectful and responsible.

All questions, comments and inquiries should either be addressed to me personally or via email at jmajor@otacharter.org.

Jeff Major
STEM Director
Old Town Academy
jmajor@otacharter.org