FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
September 14, 2009 Laurie Pianka, SIATech
408.421.2718
laurie.pianka@siatech.org
Linda Collins Leigh, SIATech
760.994.6587
linda.leigh@siatech.org
ADVISORY / PREVIOUS HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS TO BE HONORED IN WASHINGTON, DC, ON SEPTEMBER 23
SIATech Students from San Jose Job Corps Center Recognized for their Robotics Team which Successfully Competed with Top Schools and Students in Remarkable Season
Washington, DC—The School for Integrated Academics and Technologies, a network of public charter high schools focused on dropout recovery, announces its San Jose Robotics team will participate in Job Corps Day on Capitol Hill on September 23, 2009. Four student team members and several team mentors will put on a Robotics demonstration in the Rayburn House office building. Later that evening, the students will act as greeters at the Oratory Competition at the Capitol Visitor’s Center.
WHAT: An opportunity to meet with previous dropouts who dramatically turned their lives around. These students returned to school at SIATech, joined the Robotics team, and traveled the country to compete against the elite students and schools in the country. The students will be honored as part of the Department of Labor’s Job Corps Day: “45 Years of Building Lives and Launching Careers” Celebration.
WHO: SIATech at San Jose Job Corps’ Robotics Team Members and Mentors (Team 1834, Evolution). Special guests include: Members of Congress invited to demonstration times.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, Complete Event Agenda
Robotics Exhibit Booth, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm (Eastern)
Robotics Demonstration, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm and 2:30 – 3:30 pm (Eastern)
Greeters prior to Oratory Competition, 4:30 – 5:30 pm (Eastern)
WHERE: Rayburn House Office Building, Foyer (Robotics Exhibit Booth and Demonstration)
Capitol Visitor’s Center, Orientation Theatre (Greeters at Oratory Competition)
About SIATech
The School for Integrated Academics and Technologies (SIATech®) is an award-winning dropout recovery program. SIATech is a fully accredited public charter high school that operates in partnership with the federal Job Corps program. The school serves low-income, previously out-of-school youth. SIATech excels at identifying student strengths and individualizing instruction to meet each student’s needs and goals. The school’s safe and caring setting enables students to take charge of their learning and obtain the tools they need for lifetime success, whether it is at their chosen career or further education. More than 8,500 out-of-school youth have graduated from SIATech’s 14 campuses. More information
www.siatech.org.
About Job Corps
Job Corps is a voluntary program under the Department of Labor that provides outreach to disadvantaged urban youth, who have either had difficulty in traditional high school programs, dropped out of school, or are facing academic and/or personal challenges that make attending a traditional high school difficult or impossible. Job Corps is a free education and training program that helps young people learn a career, complete high school, and find and keep a good job. There are seven Job Corps centers in California and 122 centers nationwide. Click here for a history of Job Corps. More information
www.jobcorps.gov.
About Robotics Team 1834 Evolution
Each SIATech student is a previous dropout who has a remarkable story of overcoming adversity. Robotics gives students experience in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and provides an exciting hands-on opportunity for students to realize they can be successful in higher education and high-tech careers.
Team 1834 Evolution from the San Jose Job Corps Center earned many awards and honors. The team earned the Judges’ Award at the prestigious Silicon Valley Regional. The team earned the Engineering Inspiration Award at the Hawaiian Regional in Honolulu. This award qualified the team to participate in the World Championships. At the FIRST Robotics World Championships the team earned 15th place out of 87 teams in their division. After season completion, the team was honored by State Senator Elaine Alquist on the floor of the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Washington, DC, demonstration will be the climactic conclusion to the season.
About US FIRST Robotics
US FIRST Robotics is a worldwide competition where teams solve an identical problem during a six-week timeframe using a standard kit of parts. Students are rewarded for excellence in design, team spirit, gracious professionalism and maturity, and the ability to overcome life’s obstacles. More information
http://www.usfirst.org/.