The Woodside World Woodside's 2008 Valedictorian
By Jamie Mesenburg
You may have seen them rushing around at lunchtime to make it to a club, in some of the hardest AP classes, or congratulating a teammate while playing on a Woodside High School sports team. Twelve of these outstanding seniors all have something in common: they are the valedictorians of the class of 2008.
Kayla Ulrich, who participates on the wrestling and swim team here at Woodside, is one student who is inspiring as well as active in the community. Outside of taking AP classes, Ulrich participates in her church's youth group leadership team and teaches Sunday school. She also works at a local coffee shop. She notes that her high point at Woodside would have to be meeting "so many different people and having been able to be in a community where [she’s] comfortable to try new things and experiences." Next year, Kayla plans to attend University of San Diego and major in Education, History, or Spanish.
Kealani Kitaura, the co-founder and an active member of the American Cancer Society Club, has really taken advantage of all the opportunities Woodside has to offer. She enjoys playing badminton and has taken first place in the badminton PALs two years in a row playing doubles. Her advice for younger students is: "always try your best to figure out what your teachers are specifically looking for in projects and homework;
it will help minimize the workload. Also, join sports. Even if you aren't coordinated you will make a lot of new friends.” Next year, Kitaura plans to attend UC Davis and major in environmental science.
Lisa Gellerman, a spirited and influencing student, enjoys eating, running, playing piano, and doing community service. One thing she will miss about Woodside is the crazy dancing in the quad post-rally. Gellerman plans to attend UC Berkeley next year to major in either civil and environmental engineering or premed. Her words of advice: "Party hard, study harder."
Ronald Yu, a member of the leadership class and treasurer of the American Cancer Society Club, is an extremely well rounded student. He plays badminton, participates in community service, and is an active leader in many aspects at Woodside. "Next year, I will miss my friends and teachers that have been through all these years with me " explains Yu. Next year, he plans to attend UCLA where he will major in civil engineering.
Alicia Beekman, a vivacious and friendly student, has achieved many accomplishments while at Woodside. She is a member of the dance team and does tap,jazz, ballet and hip-hop outside of school. She has also done a lot of community service and traveled to different countries with People to People Students Ambassadors. In her future, Beekman wants to work for a non-profit organization in a foreign country. "Next year, I'll miss the familiarity of Woodside and being so comfortable with so many of the students and faculty" explains Beekman. Next fall, she plans to attend University of Miami and major in international studies.
Kayla Ulrich, who participates on the wrestling and swim team here at Woodside, is one student who is inspiring as well as active in the community. Outside of taking AP classes, Ulrich participates in her church's youth group leadership team and teaches Sunday school. She also works at a local coffee shop. She notes that her high point at Woodside would have to be meeting "so many different people and having been able to be in a community where [she’s] comfortable to try new things and experiences." Next year, Kayla plans to attend University of San Diego and major in Education, History, or Spanish.
Kealani Kitaura, the co-founder and an active member of the American Cancer Society Club, has really taken advantage of all the opportunities Woodside has to offer. She enjoys playing badminton and has taken first place in the badminton PALs two years in a row playing doubles. Her advice for younger students is: "always try your best to figure out what your teachers are specifically looking for in projects and homework;
it will help minimize the workload. Also, join sports. Even if you aren't coordinated you will make a lot of new friends.” Next year, Kitaura plans to attend UC Davis and major in environmental science.
Lisa Gellerman, a spirited and influencing student, enjoys eating, running, playing piano, and doing community service. One thing she will miss about Woodside is the crazy dancing in the quad post-rally. Gellerman plans to attend UC Berkeley next year to major in either civil and environmental engineering or premed. Her words of advice: "Party hard, study harder."
Ronald Yu, a member of the leadership class and treasurer of the American Cancer Society Club, is an extremely well rounded student. He plays badminton, participates in community service, and is an active leader in many aspects at Woodside. "Next year, I will miss my friends and teachers that have been through all these years with me " explains Yu. Next year, he plans to attend UCLA where he will major in civil engineering.
Alicia Beekman, a vivacious and friendly student, has achieved many accomplishments while at Woodside. She is a member of the dance team and does tap,jazz, ballet and hip-hop outside of school. She has also done a lot of community service and traveled to different countries with People to People Students Ambassadors. In her future, Beekman wants to work for a non-profit organization in a foreign country. "Next year, I'll miss the familiarity of Woodside and being so comfortable with so many of the students and faculty" explains Beekman. Next fall, she plans to attend University of Miami and major in international studies.
Robotics Team Bound For Atlanta
By Steven Rhodes
Imagine a machine, 120 pounds, five feet tall, and competing with five other such machines in a race to complete a seemingly impossible challenge. Woodside High School’s resident robotics club, Team 100, the Wildhats, made such a machine. Not only that, but they won with it. On March 15, 2008, their robot, Ballfrog, led an alliance with two other teams to victory against the 48 bots at the San Jose Regional. This has qualified them for the Championships, at Atlanta, Georgia. They will face off against hundreds of teams under the Georgia Dome in mid-April.
Woodside/Carlmont Team 100, the Wildhats, has been active since 1995. It is part of a worldwide organization called For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a program encompassing thousands of teams and tens of thousands of students across the nation. Each year, FIRST designs and reveals a competition for teams to build a 120 lb robot. These competitions are always radically different, from stacking tetrahedrals to complete a giant game of tic-tac-toe, to shooting dodge balls into seven-foot high goals, to hanging inflatable inner tubes on an eight-sided rack. This year, the challenge involves 40-inch diameter inflatable balls. Robots race around a 54 by 28 foot field, pausing to pick up the three and a half foot balls and hurdling them over an overpass 70 inches in the air. After a fifteen second autonomous period with no communication with the robot, there are two minutes of intense racing, with the radio-controlled robots pushing themselves to the limits to get as many points as possible.
Woodside High School has always risen to the challenge, and this year is no exception. Team 100, so named for the number assigned to it by FIRST, has put many hours into building their behemoth. In six weeks during January and February, they designed, built, and perfected a five foot tall, 120 lb robot. It had a curved claw bolted to an elevator that could lift the 12 lb ball 7 feet up in 3 seconds. These were mounted upon a two-speed six-wheel drive train. This was finished off with a healthy dose of orange and a name: Ballfrog. With its superior speed and its lightning fast elevator, Ballfrog could hurdle more than twice a minute. It was ready for competition.
The first competition they attended was hosted in Portland, Oregon. A handpicked group of 12 students went up to compete with the robot. They faced off against 55 other teams, all entering running robots into the fray. The matches were short but intense; by the beginning of Saturday, Team 100 was ranked forth, but just barely. They entered the elimination rounds, where the top twenty-four robots formed eight alliances to face off against in two-out-of-three matches. The quarterfinals were the easy part. The semifinals were much harder. Woodside won a match, lost a match, and tied one because of penalties. The fourth match out of the three that were supposed to happen, however, was a flop. One of Team 100’s alliance partners was crushed by another robot, and out of commission for the rest of the match. Faced with uneven odds, the victory fell short of reach.
The next competition gave the taste of victory. In San Jose State University, the Wildhats showed their potential could bring them to victory. By the time elimination rounds came, Woodside was ranked first. They picked team 254, another amazing hurdling robot, and team 115, a reliable and quick robot. The quarterfinals and semifinals were quickly done, bringing Team 100 to face another alliance in the finals. The first match, they won. The second match, a single penalty brought them down. The third was a victory, but very close. So close, in fact, that the referees decided to go to a fourth match. In the final seconds, Ballfrog placed a ball, bringing the crucial points needed for a victory.
The next step is Atlanta.
Woodside/Carlmont Team 100, the Wildhats, has been active since 1995. It is part of a worldwide organization called For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a program encompassing thousands of teams and tens of thousands of students across the nation. Each year, FIRST designs and reveals a competition for teams to build a 120 lb robot. These competitions are always radically different, from stacking tetrahedrals to complete a giant game of tic-tac-toe, to shooting dodge balls into seven-foot high goals, to hanging inflatable inner tubes on an eight-sided rack. This year, the challenge involves 40-inch diameter inflatable balls. Robots race around a 54 by 28 foot field, pausing to pick up the three and a half foot balls and hurdling them over an overpass 70 inches in the air. After a fifteen second autonomous period with no communication with the robot, there are two minutes of intense racing, with the radio-controlled robots pushing themselves to the limits to get as many points as possible.
Woodside High School has always risen to the challenge, and this year is no exception. Team 100, so named for the number assigned to it by FIRST, has put many hours into building their behemoth. In six weeks during January and February, they designed, built, and perfected a five foot tall, 120 lb robot. It had a curved claw bolted to an elevator that could lift the 12 lb ball 7 feet up in 3 seconds. These were mounted upon a two-speed six-wheel drive train. This was finished off with a healthy dose of orange and a name: Ballfrog. With its superior speed and its lightning fast elevator, Ballfrog could hurdle more than twice a minute. It was ready for competition.
The first competition they attended was hosted in Portland, Oregon. A handpicked group of 12 students went up to compete with the robot. They faced off against 55 other teams, all entering running robots into the fray. The matches were short but intense; by the beginning of Saturday, Team 100 was ranked forth, but just barely. They entered the elimination rounds, where the top twenty-four robots formed eight alliances to face off against in two-out-of-three matches. The quarterfinals were the easy part. The semifinals were much harder. Woodside won a match, lost a match, and tied one because of penalties. The fourth match out of the three that were supposed to happen, however, was a flop. One of Team 100’s alliance partners was crushed by another robot, and out of commission for the rest of the match. Faced with uneven odds, the victory fell short of reach.
The next competition gave the taste of victory. In San Jose State University, the Wildhats showed their potential could bring them to victory. By the time elimination rounds came, Woodside was ranked first. They picked team 254, another amazing hurdling robot, and team 115, a reliable and quick robot. The quarterfinals and semifinals were quickly done, bringing Team 100 to face another alliance in the finals. The first match, they won. The second match, a single penalty brought them down. The third was a victory, but very close. So close, in fact, that the referees decided to go to a fourth match. In the final seconds, Ballfrog placed a ball, bringing the crucial points needed for a victory.
The next step is Atlanta.
