Coaches, Mentors, and Volunteers: Enabling Team Dynamite to Ignite the Competition!
Here, we graciously acknowledge all the contributions and sacrifices of our adult team members. We really do appreciate your efforts and the opportunity to learn under your supervision! THANKS!! from the student members!
2009-2010 Mentors Ms. Elizabeth Bell Mrs. Ruby Crichton Ms. K Cunningham
Mrs. Carita Franklin Mr. Keir Ham Mrs. Veronica Henry Mr. C Keck Mrs. Denise Lewis Mr. Keith Marshall Dr. Barbara Nichols
Mrs. Olivia Pearson
Mr. Jonnifer Quiros Ms. Allison Richo Mr. Jesse Shelton Mrs. Paula Shelton Mr. Wendell Simmons
Mr. Andrew Witko Mr. Marcus Young
2008-2009 Mentors
Mrs. Sharon Anderson Ms. Elizabeth Bell Mrs. Ruby Crichton Ms. K Cunningham Mr. Keir Ham Mrs. Veronica Henry Mr. C Keck Mrs. Denise Lewis Mr. Keith Marshall Mrs. Shirley Moore Dr. Barbara Nichols Mr. Joe Renaud Ms. Allison Richo Mr. Jesse Shelton Mrs. Paula Shelton Mr. Wendell Simmons Mrs. Olivia Weaver-Pearson Mr. Marcus Young
Our school principal, Dr. Jean Paul Cadet, and our Science and Technology Program Coordinator, Mrs. Olivia Pearson, remain our champions and chief supporters. Dr. Cadet and Mrs. Pearson offer full support when it comes to working with students, parents, and other members of our school community to assist students in meeting our high expectations.
Oxon Hill High School teachers provide needed supervision during team meetings, technical expertise, overall guidance and dispute resolution. We know that it will be a sacrifice for our teachers who are already managing heavy work schedules to help us with this, but the more teachers we have on board, the more likely it will be that our robotics team will be successful and continue in future years.
We look to our mentors to provide professional expertise and management tips so that we can design and build a competitive robot, given the short time frame that we have to work with (six weeks). We also need our parents and guardians, Oxon Hill High School alumni and community members to help with logistics, transportation, providing snacks/food for team meetings and encouragement. We will invite Oxon Hill graduates return to our school to volunteer, and we will create a roadmap to build relationships within our community. We hope to lead after school robotics initiatives (with high school students serving as mentors for younger students), and visit feeder middle schools and local elementary schools to promote academics, science and technology. We currently support John Hanson Montessouri Elementary School by having our seniors serve as judges for their annual science fair.
Dynamite Robotics Dedicates Our Rookie Season to the Memory of
Mr. Joseph Mrad
Like dynamite’s inventor, we are sad, but not defeated.
After returning to Sweden in 1863, inventor Alfred Nobel concentrated on developing nitroglycerine as an explosive. Several explosions, including one (1864) in which killed his brother Emil and several other persons, convinced authorities that nitroglycerine production was too dangerous. They shut down further experimentation with nitroglycerine in Stockholm. Alfred Nobel had to move his experimentation to a barge on Lake Mälaren. Although Alfred was sad, he was not discouraged and kept on trying. In 1864 he started mass production of nitroglycerine. Despite the challenges, dynamite brought Nobel a great fortune, which he used to found the Nobel Prize, which is occasionally awarded to those who persevered through critical moments in a process despite the risk of failure.
On November 24, 2008, Dynamite Robotics lost a critical member of our team to cancer. Mr. Joseph Mrad was a beloved teacher at Oxon Hill High School since August 1999. He was a whiz at woodwork, and all things mechanical, including metal shop and electronics. Our machine shop at the school was temporarily closed due to lack of expertise with the tools and equipment. Although we are sad, we are not defeated as Dynamite dedicated our rookie season to the memory of Mr. Joseph Mrad, former Technology Education teacher for the Science and Technology Program at Oxon Hill High School.
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