Singapore Science Center: FRC Demonstration

[Can Do]

What a great way to spend the summer !! You guys are truly FIRST ambassadors.

Sounds like you are having a great time and spreading the infection of FIRST abroad!!

Best wishes for continued success in your endeavors.

What I've heard (I'm a State-side graduated Daisy) sounds amazing; I'm not a huge squid fan, but the stingray sounds oddly appetizing.
In any case, I've heard of the unbelievable enthusiasm that students in Singapore have not just for FIRST, but also for learning as a whole. From what you've experienced so far, why is this? Is there something we can learn from them to apply over here in our Science and Technology programs?

[crazed_daisy]

well for starters, their government pays an INCREDIBLE amount of money to their "public" schools, so their facilities, technology, number of computers, etc etc are all top-notch. the government here really seems to value education and i don't blame them. i think the students also have a great respect for their education and teachers. I'm actually in a homestay right now with a girl named Tiara from CHIG secondary school... let me ask her.

ok well this girl is an exception... she doesn't particularally like school but she suggested that some reasons are hands-on learning experiences and having the facilities and equipment that they have (good guess kate!).

In detail about my homestay... Tiara's parents, Joan and Patrick, took us to the Shore Restaurant, a place on the east coast of Singapore (where they live... it takes her 30 minutes to get to school! by car!) which was RIGHT NEXT to the sea. The meal was amazing... I had beef curry, baby kai lan, fried chicken wings, and for dessert a "tennis ball"... fried ice cream and the fried stuff was green. YUMMY! They took me back to their apartment afterwards to watch SINGAPORE IDOL!!!! apparently the people who are still on the show are terrible but it was very similar to the one back in the states.

Now we're getting ready for bed and I need a lot of sleep for tomorrow... school visits again!

[OZ_341]

Tuesday was a very important day. Its also very descriptive of how our days have been. We have had so much fun, excitement, action, meaningful exchange, and intense cultural immersion that we don't have much time to reflect.

Tuesday Morning:
6:45 Bus to Temasek Secondary
7:20 Opening Ceremony for School Day
7:00 - 8:30 Reception for US and Singaporean Students
8:30 - 11:30 Classroom Exchange
11:30 - 12:45 Lunch and Demonstration Setup
1:15 - 1:45 Robot Demonstration, Robotics Recruitment Drive and gift exchange
1:45 - 2:15 Interview with Singapore Newspaper
2:15 - 2:45 Pack Robot and Equipment for Shipment to ChIJ Secondary
2:45 - 3:00 Quick Group Picture and then Taxi Cabs to the US Embassy
3:15- 4:45 Presentation and Discussion with US Commercial Service at Embassy
5:30 Meet Temasek and Milennia Students in Chinatown
6:00 - 10:00 Dinner, shopping and sightseeing in Chinatown with Temasek and Millennia Students
11:00 Back to the Hotel for a few hours sleep before doing this all over again

Almost every day has been this intense, but I would not trade a single moment. However, I am looking forward to relaxing and reflecting on the whole experience. There is so much we haven't told you. I truly hope to write down our experiences on the plane ride home

[OZ_341]

This will be the last time we can write before leaving Singapore.

Today our girls returned from homestays and went to classes at an all girls Catholic School called Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ). This school has been in Singapore since it was a British trading post.

Our boys went to a Robotics lab at the Nanyang Polytechnic Institute. They saw a wide range of innovative robot design laboratories.

Later, we met back at CHIJ to crate up our robot for shipment home. Some of the students and teachers were saying their goodbyes, while others reonstructed the crate and disassembled Miss Daisy for the long flight back to Ambler.

My daughter made many great friends at this school because the girls were a little younger. She spent her last few moments writing down email addresses, giving out hugs and playing in the yard. She was very sad to leave.

Later in the day, we gave a presentation at the American Chamber of Commerce of Singapore. We also finished our trip with a visit to the section of town known as Little India.

Well its 2:00 AM here and I must get some sleep. We are leaving for the airport at 7:00 AM for the 36 hour trek back to Ambler. I am hoping that I can organize my thoughts on the plane ride and provide a good summary of our trip. But no matter how we try, there will be no way we can convey the impact that this trip has had on the lives of 13 people that lived here for 11 days in Southeast Asia, in this paradise known as Singapore.

See you back home in Philly!

[OZ_341]

Here's Blog Posting from Jared, one of our College-age Mentors:

Sitting in Changi Airport

Jared here again, logging on one last time before I hop on the plane back to the Western world.

Last night at the hotel we had an unexpected visit from all of the teachers and students that we saw here in Singapore, and it was with many a wet eye that we said our farewells. They gave us one last basket of fruit, a myriad of gifts for all of the students, and final hugs.

I've been international several times now, and each time the trip is never quite what I was expecting. In this case, it was orders of magnitude better than my wildest predictions. Yes, we showed our robot to "oohs" and "ahhs", and in the process inspired hundreds of Singaporean school children to look into robotics and engineering, but two other things I wasn't expecting happened.

First, our team's own passion was ignited. The students who went with us don't want to leave; they were so impressed by the level of technology taught here that even those who haven't been on the technical crew in the past have voiced a desire to pursure build this season, and later engineering. The teachers were re-inspired by what they saw in the classroom, and will take those lessons home.

Second, and more importantly, we became friends with the students here. E-mail addresses, screennames, and phone numbers changed hands - my one lasting memory above all else will be when we were leaving one of the schools and Gina, a Singaporean students, shouted to our student Kate, "I love you Kate!"

We flew around the world, inspired the locals and ourselves, and left with friendships and love. How cool is that?

[Jared Russell]

Well, Team 341 made it home early this morning - I just woke up at 6:00PM. I guess it's going to take a few days before I'm back on Western hemisphere time.

New posts are trickling onto our blog, as are brand new pictures. For now I'll just link to it until I can get some choice photos up on CD.

Check it out at http://tripsing.blogspot.com/

[OZ_341]

Our team has just arrived home from our 11 day mission to Singapore and we just wanted to thank everyone that made it possible.

We started this mission with many objectives:

Strengthen our friendship with the Singapore Community, Engage in a technical/cultural exchange, Plan the future of our partnership, Inspire the students of Singapore to join FIRST Robotics in their schools and Find corporate support to continue this exchange.

Although this was a lofty set of goals for a bunch of high school kids, this trip far exceeded our wildest expectations.

While in Singapore, our students visited classrooms in three different schools, participated in homestays, held four public robot demonstrations, conducted a 2 hour seminar at the Singapore Science Center, learned about the culture of Singapore, and made countless friends . We also made sponsorship presentations at the US Embassy (US Commercial Service), US-ASEAN Business Council, and The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.

Beyond the mere achievement of goals, I think we will most remember the warmth of the people of Singapore. Thier kindness, sincerity and gracious hospitality made us feel as if we were visiting with old friends. We look forward to a bright future together and want to thank everyone that made this trip possible. Below are some very special organizations and individuals that we would like to thank for giving our students this tremendous opportunity.

THANK YOU:
The Millennia Institute
Temasek Secondary School
CHIJ Secondary School
The Singapore Ministry of Education
Singapore Science Center
Nanyang Polytechnic Institute
The Singapore Embassy in Washington DC
Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development
Senator Rick Santorum
Senator Arlen Specter
Congressman Curt Weldon
Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz
Governor Ed Rendell
US Commercial Service
US-ASEAN Business Council
The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore
DHL Global Forwarding
Rohm & Haas Company
MDS Pharma Services
FIRST Robotics Competition
The Philadelphia Inquirer
SpringHouse Travel
BAE Systems
Johnson & Johnson
Siemens SEA
DeVry University
Wissahickon Educational Opportunities Foundation
North Montco Technical Career Center
Wissahickon School District

You can learn more about the trip at these Philadelphia Inquirer links :
http://tripsing.blogspot.com/

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/15267600.htm

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/15226311.htm

[crazed_daisy]

Ok, this is the third (and hopefully final) time that I am trying to post this. The first time, Friday night, the power went out before I finished the last paragraph. The second time, 5 minutes ago, Internet Explorer quit because there was an error (yet again right as I was finishing up). Third time's a charm, right?

I honestly feel as if I can't do justice to my experience in Singapore with words. The people's values, to me, are ideal. They keep the country clean, are resourceful, outstandingly hospitable, respectful, and hold a high value for education. Because the government fully supports most schools and the students wear uniforms, the students have a lot of inspiration, focus, and room to learn. Even the country's public transportation amazed me! It was so easy that I had hope for some of the subway systems here in the states... although I shouldn't.

Our group was insanely lucky to have the type of experience that we had. Instead of being typical tourists, with a hired tour guide, visits to museums, and changing hotels every few nights, we had a much more personal experience. The team took us to places that tourists would never be able to find on their own, had us try local delicacies, and let us have a FIRST HAND experience of their culture, instead of learning it from a distance in historical museums and brochures. I even got to stay with a Singaporean family for a night!

Visiting the three schools strenghtened my inspiration to go into an engineering field for college and a career, moreso than i had wanted before the trip (I wanted to go to college for Architecture or Industrial Design). The level of technology available to all students in the school, similar to the technology used to be a part of a FIRST team, was outstanding. I don't mean to get all sappy and cliche here, but being in a country on the other side of the world (quite literally) provided me with a new opinion and knowledge of myself and of America by recognizing the similarities and differences in the cultures. I know now how to be more resourceful and respectful. Even driving to work today, a 15 minute drive, showed me how much land America has! It takes two hours to get from one side of Singapore to the other... that's how long it takes me to get to the nearest beach back home!

I would say that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the group, but I know that it isn't. Not only does our team hope to send another group in the future to further continue our partnership and friendship, but I, personally, plan to either study abroad there in college, travel with the team again, or at least travel to Singapore on my own when possible to visit with my friends! And I'm not the only one.

Ok, third time was a charm. Finally! Thanks for keeping up with this thread throughout our time there. Any questions? Feel free to ask!

[JaneYoung]

Welcome home!

Does the team plan on doing any presentations of your trip/experiences here at home?

Jane

[OZ_341]

Originally Posted by Jane

Welcome home!

Does the team plan on doing any presentations of your trip/experiences here at home?

Jane

We are discussing the possibility of doing a sharing session with our community. I know that the whole travel team hasn't had a chance to process what has happened to us and it would be a great way to reflect on the experience.
We arrived home on friday at 2 AM (EST) and we had 2 days to recover before starting the school year. We have not even seen each others pictures yet. Between our team and the 3 Singapore Schools there must be thousands of pictures, reams of journal pages, and hours of video. I think sharing with others is an essential phase in mentally processing this journey.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Al,
I must tell you that this has been one of the high points of being invovled with this program. Your team's efforts and daily reports and all the pictures made me feel like I was part of your team. What a wonderful experience. Please pass my thanks along to your team for allowing us all to tag along.

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Please pass my thanks along to your team for allowing us all to tag along.

My sentiments exactly. This has been fun to witness. Hopefully, other teams will follow Miss Daisy's example of reaching out and spreading the word of FIRST in other cultures and locations.

Andy B.

[haroony341]

is there any word from any of the Singapore schools after your demos to start FRC teams or will they be sticking with vex for now?

[Jared Russell]

It's too early to say whether or not they will have an FRC team this year. There is definately no shortage of interest, but there are a lot of challenges to overcome between now and kickoff for it to happen this season.

FRV46 is the reigning Vex world champ, so obviously they will maintain involvement with that program regardless of whether or not they move to FRC this year or next.