Marymount High School sophomore CYRA KANG, along with her 16 teammates, received the Daimler/Chrysler Team Spirit Award at the 2005 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Southern California Regional Robotics Championships. The Marymount team was one of only four all-girls’ teams out of the 52 who competed at the Great Western Forum earlier this month. The judges selected the Marymount High School team for its ‘extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork.’ The citation continues, ‘This team demonstrated a focus to a theme with great energy, creativity, and enthusiasm. They showed strength in the face of adversity and tenacity in the face of challenge.’ FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway Human Transporter, to encourage an interest in science and technology among high school students. The competition begins every January when FIRST provides each team with a ‘kit of parts’ and a common set of rules to build a robot within a six weeks. Marymount’s entry, ‘Nautilus IV,’ joined the other robots on the floor of the Forum as they competed in a game of super-sized ‘tic-tac-toe.’ For Kang, a first-time team member, the process was not all about mechanical engineering, ‘There were a lot of creative and brilliant ideas. It was more like a competition for creativity.’ o o o MASON HAYS, a sophomore at Palisades High School, has been selected to participate in the National Student Leadership Conference, a leadership development program for outstanding high school students. Mason, the son of Sharon and Quay Hays, is on the varsity tennis team and in the drama department. Mason will be attending the July 5-15 session in Washington, D.C., with a focus on entrepreneurship and business. He will explore the transformation of the economy in the information age and wrestle with the complex ethical questions that confront businesspeople around the world. Young people will take on roles, such as a corporate executive negotiating the acquisition of another company or the owner of a small business who wants to break into a new market. While there, Mason will meet key business leaders, learn to make effective presentations, research new innovations and marketing techniques and create a business plan.
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