LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: education

  • Pause on federal student loan repayments extended by Biden through Aug. 31

    Pause on federal student loan repayments extended by Biden through Aug. 31

    BY: ARIANA FIGUEROA – Ohio Capital Journal

    The Biden administration Wednesday announced its plans to extend the pause on federal student loan repayments until the end of August.

    “I recognized in recently extending the COVID-19 national emergency, we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. 

    “If loan payments were to resume on schedule in May, analysis of recent data from the Federal Reserve suggests that millions of student loan borrowers would face significant economic hardship, and delinquencies and defaults could threaten Americans’ financial stability.”

    The White House will extend the deadline for student borrowers to pause on federal loan repayments, interest, and collections until Aug. 31. The announcement also provides a “fresh start” on loan repayments by removing any prior defaults to allow those borrowers to re-enter repayment in good standing.

    The current pause would have ended on May 1.

    “The Department of Education is committed to ensuring that student loan borrowers have a smooth transition back to repayment,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. 

    “This additional extension will allow borrowers to gain more financial security as the economy continues to improve and as the nation continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, the president of NextGen America, an organization that mobilizes young voters, released a statement calling the announcement “another short-term fix to a crisis that demands a long-term solution.”

    “Young voters feel frustrated with President Biden’s failure to fulfill his promise on student debt cancellation,” Tzintzún Ramirez said. “While borrowers surely appreciate the help paying rent and making ends meet, what they really need is a debt cancellation that will allow them to buy a house and build a future.”

    During Biden’s campaign for the presidency, he pledged to cancel student loan debt during a town hall in Miami.

    “I’m going to eliminate your student debt if you come from a family (making less) than $125,000 and went to a public university,” he said, according to Black Enterprise.

    Biden has since called on Congress to pass legislation to cancel up to $10,000 of student debt, but many congressional Democrats argue that Biden could reduce debt through an executive order. They’ve pushed him to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt.

    The Federal Reserve estimates that the total U.S. student loan debt is more than $1.75 trillion. The Department of Education owns about 92% of that student loan debt.

    Democrats push for debt cancellation

    A handful of U.S. Senate and House Democrats released a joint statement that said they welcomed the extension, but stressed the need to cancel student loan debt.

    “While the extension is welcome, a looming restart of student loan payments in September underscores the importance of swift executive action on meaningful student debt cancellation,” they wrote. “We continue to implore the President to use his clear legal authority to cancel student debt, which will help narrow the racial wealth gap, boost our economic recovery, and demonstrate that this government is fighting for the people.”

    Those lawmakers include Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chuck Schumer of New York, Alex Padilla of California and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, as well as Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina.

    The chair of the House Education and Labor committee, Rep. Bobby Scott, released a statement in which he did not call for the cancellation of student debt, but praised the administration for its decision to continue the pause.

    “By extending the pause on student loan repayments, collections, and interest accrual, the Biden-Harris Administration has demonstrated that it remains committed to helping borrowers get back on their feet,” the Virginia Democrat said.

  • Loveland area students can apply now for Ohio Student Safety Advisory Council

    Loveland area students can apply now for Ohio Student Safety Advisory Council

    David Miller is the Editor and Publisher of Loveland Magazine
    by David Miller

    Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today announced the creation of the new Ohio Student Safety Advisory Council within the Ohio School Safety Center (OSSC). The student-led Council will work to identify school safety concerns and develop innovative solutions to address them. “School safety programs are designed to protect students, so it’s important that students are given the opportunity to be a part of the conversation,” said Governor DeWine. “Involving them in the process of identifying safety concerns and creating solutions will provide Ohioans with a new and important perspective for violence prevention.”  Findings from the student-based council meetings will be delivered to the Governor’s Ohio School Safety Working Group to generate statewide solutions and supports.

    “Being a member of this statewide council will enable students to ensure their voice is heard when it comes to school safety,” Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Tom Stickrath said. “They will learn more about student safety-related issues and help devise effective peer-driven solutions.”

    To be eligible for the Council, students must:

    • Be entering grade 11 for the 2022-2023 school year.
    • Submit a completed application and nomination letter, which must be submitted together to OhioSchoolSafetyCenter@dps.ohio.gov prior to the May 6, 2022 deadline to be considered.  
    • Agree to serve a one-year term and attend monthly virtual meetings and one in-person meeting in Columbus.

    Two students from each of the five school safety center regions will be selected for the Council.

    Students will have the opportunity to be involved in additional events both in-person and remotely throughout their term. Those selected should plan on spending no fewer than 10 hours per month on group activities/work. 

    Council members will develop strategies to encourage their peers to actively engage in maintaining a safe school environment and will be an advocate for students’ overall well-being. Students will work directly with the regional school safety liaisons from the OSSC to organize events, focus groups, and trainings in their regions to help highlight student success and safety best practices at various schools. These members will also act as a sounding board for the Governor’s Ohio School Safety Working Group and OSSC on student marketing campaigns and projects to ensure a student voice is represented.  

    Candidates chosen to move forward with the process will be asked to attend a virtual interview. The OSSC plans to announce the student council member selections at the end
    of May. 

    Additional information can be found on the OSSC website.

  • [A Video Archive] Celebrating the Black women of Loveland, Ohio

    [A Video Archive] Celebrating the Black women of Loveland, Ohio

    David Miller is the Publisher and Editor of Loveland Magazine

    by David Miller

    Loveland, Ohio – On Sunday, March 20, the First Missionary Baptist Church on Main Street invited Loveland native and historian Larry Hamilton, Jr. to lecture on the historical importance of the Black Women of Loveland. The occasion was to honor International Woman’s Day and Women’s History Month.

    Hamilton now lives in Piqua, Ohio. He is a retired high school teacher and a member of the Loveland Schools Foundation “Hall of Fame”. He is the author of three books and graduated from Loveland High School in 1967.

    Larry Hamilton

    Hamilton taught courses in African American History, World Studies, and Current Events at Piqua High School. His tenure of teaching African American History for 30 straight years may be the longest consecutive period of teaching the subject at a predominately white high school anywhere in the country. He was selected for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, was awarded the Ohio Tri-County NAACP’s Martin Luther King Outstanding African American Award, as well as the state of Ohio’s MLK Cultural Awareness Award in 2005.

    In his talk, Hamilton traces the path of African American women from slavery to their migration to Loveland. Hamilton presented slides of “Bill of Sale of Slaves” and an appraisement inventory from court proceedings of May, 1855 that lists Elizabeth (age 60) as “old woman worth nothing”.

    Loveland Magazine attended the Sunday morning service that was devoted to Hamilton’s presentation to record the event so this important history lesson could be archived on our pages. As Hamilton said, “Our Black history is Loveland’s history.”

    At the end of the service, Deanna Todd, who is the Assistant Principal of the Mason Middle School sings the Lift Every Voice and Sing, the Black National Anthem.

    View slides used in the Hamilton’s lecture Video

    Right click an image to open a new tab and see a larger view

    To learn more about Black History in Loveland

    These LOVELAND MAGAZINE HD VIDEOS are from a conversation between Paula Oguah, and Larry Hamilton about the early history of the Loveland Predestinarian Baptist Church (LPBC). The conversation took place in the Loveland Magazine TV Studio.

    This STORY and accompanying videos represent 3 months of study, interviews, and research into the chronological record of this historic Loveland landmark.

    Hamilton a native of Loveland is a retired teacher of African American History, World Studies, and Current Events who now lives in Piqua, OH. His family was intimately involved in the founding of LPBC and the construction of the church building. He is the author of Lucy’s Story – Right Choices But Wrongs Still Left, the historical account of his great-great-grandmother — a slave during the Civil War, who later lived and died in Loveland. Hamilton was a baptized member of LPBC and his grandmother Esther Hannon Hamilton taught his Sunday school class.

    Oguah is “Forth Generation Loveland” and a former resident, livied only one block from the Church. She travels often to Africa, and was an attorney with a private practice in Loveland. She grew up in Loveland, and her familiy, the Cobbs, were also intimately involved in the earliest of the Church’s history. Oguah’s family at one time was considered a backbone of the Loveland social and business community. Oguah’s great-grandfather Dennis Cobb reportedly helped lay the stone foundation to the church, and she was married in the church.

  • In Search of the Grail: The Story of a Women’s Movement in Loveland, Ohio

    In Search of the Grail: The Story of a Women’s Movement in Loveland, Ohio

    Changing things that look impossible to change.

    by David Miller

    Loveland, Ohio – In 1940, an international movement of women got on a boat. The last boat before Hitler invaded Holland. They made it to America, “by an eyelash” in April of that year.

    The Grail from Loveland became a voice in the United Nations.

    After watching the video below and in the spirit of Grailville’s past of venturing into the seemingly impossible, as the Publisher of this newspaper I have made an executive decision to go “all in” with an attempt to inform Loveland residents about the imminent destruction and erasure of the artifacts of a great cultural event of our local history.

    Grailville was the home of the National Grail movement in the United States; the symbolic heart of the movement.

    Will we allow the Grailville farm to be plowed under or will we choose new furrows planted in a way that continues to grow our future as a community?

    Screen shot from The U.S. Grail, a lay movement

    If we lose these artifacts, it will be by choice and not that we didn’t know – or know better.

    Will the City Historic Preservation and Planning Commission, the City Tree and Environment Committee, the City Planning and Zoning Commission, the City Council and City Manager, the City Comprehensive Master Development Plan Committee, the City Arts Commission, and Drees Homes stand in support or indifference of the bulldozers without acknowledgment of these, artifacts?

    Will they act out of ignorance or no comprehension of enlightenment? Will our future have value? Will Loveland’s legacy contain important worth? Preserving these artifacts can be value-added.

    Screen shot from The U.S. Grail, a lay movement

    A choice for each resident – Follow the Holy or Follow the Folly.

    We will no longer be able to say, “I didn’t know.”

    For sure, expressions of dismay about the impact of 200 plus homes at Grailville and the resulting strain on City services, overcrowding of already inadequate roads and schools, etc., are legitimate, however, so is the destruction of these intrinsic artifacts expressed in this video. A quality life whether for the individual, the collective community, or our grandchildren can be one filled with the remnants of the culture that made it so rich.

    Screen shot from The U.S. Grail, a lay movement

    This 2006 film by my friend Barbara Wolf, a Cincinnati filmmaker, for The U.S. Grail, a lay movement – explores the journey of those women seeking to transform the world as a matter of personal call and communal action.

    Our communal action in this present day is what?

    The Grail in the U.S. and in Loveland is not defunct by any means, read more HERE and HERE.

    Screen shot from The U.S. Grail, a lay movement

    Will we let a Kentucky home builder know they are proposing plowing under the footprints on this good earth and artifacts of an international movement of peace, gentleness, justice, and tranquility?

    We all have faith.

    Important artifacts, our seed crops, are about to be plowed under.

    Will our horizons call each other by name to respect these artifacts?

    More reading…

    Why is Grailville important? A look at the Grail founding in Loveland

    David Miller –  Mar 30, 2022

    [VIDEO] With public outpouring, has tide turned on Grailville?

    David Miller –  Mar 22, 2022

    Planning and Zoning Commission to hear from public on re-zoning Grailville

    David Miller –  Mar 8, 2022

    An open letter to City Hall by the Mullins: Grailville decision…

    Guest Column –  Mar 2, 2022

    Drees submits application for 209 homes at Grailville

    David Miller –  Jan 31, 2022

  • LIFE Food Pantry has expanded their “Financial Assistance” program

    LIFE Food Pantry has expanded their “Financial Assistance” program

    LIFE is a faith and community supported organization that provides food, financial assistance, and programs to those experiencing hardship.

    by Linda Bergholz

    Linda Bergholz

    As we approach the end of winter (fingers crossed, no more snow dances!) we want to thank our supporters who got us through the post-holiday season.

    So many exciting things are happening at the LIFE Pantry. We have a new delivery ramp in the back, a scholarship program ready to launch, and we are looking to expand our Financial Assistance program. To that end, did you know that we have a Financial Assistance program?  Most likely not, as the vision most have is “Oh, they do food” – which we do well, but food insecurity is just one part of the bigger picture for our families. The domino effect of “my car broke down so I lost my job so I can’t pay my rent and I have an eviction notice” is devastating for these families. We offer financial assistance for rent, utilities, medical bills, and various other needs that are considered on an individual basis. The piece we are planning to add is for auto related needs such as car repair, new tires, license plates, gas cards. It’s vital to help:  if our clients can’t get to work, they don’t earn a paycheck, they can’t pay the bills. It’s a crucial part of independence for our families and a piece toward breaking that cycle of poverty.

    Looking toward spring, we will be launching our annual Feed the Hungry campaign, LIFEsavers.  We are thankful for our current monthly subscribers who allow us to better plan for expenses. The event will run April 18th through May 21st.  Look for our signs around town, and updates on our website and Facebook page. Please consider donating, either one time or continuing support. No amount is too small – even $5 a month provides a Tiger Weekend Food Bag for one of our little folks!

    Blessings abound and you, our supporters, are a huge part of those blessings. Stop in and see what we do – then sign up to donate, volunteer, and spread the word!

    Sincerely,

    Linda Bergholz,

    Executive Director
    LIFE Food Pantry

  • Why is Grailville important? A look at the Grail founding in Loveland

    Why is Grailville important? A look at the Grail founding in Loveland

    David Miller is the Publisher and Editor of Loveland Magazine
    Grailville was a place to find your place in the world whatever that meant to you.

[WATCH VIDEO BELOW "Grailville: the early decades]

by David Miller

Loveland, Ohio – Elizabeth Murphy, a Symmes Township resident, along with lifelong Loveland resident Elizabeth Robinson made this video about the early years at Grailville. It was made for Grailville’s 65th anniversary in 2009.

Robinson said, “We made a short video with interviews so we could explain how Grailville came to be. All music is music recorded at Grailville from Grailville Choirs. Many of the founding or early members including my mother Mary Schickel, had passed on and we were losing this history.”
 
Robinson also added that there was a lot of mystery about what Grailville and the Grail was and how Grailville came to be. The video contains many back in the day vintage photos of the former farm and the many women who moved to those rolling hills just on the outskirts of Loveland. 

From Holland. It was wartime. WWII. The women came when they did because if not then, they didn’t know if they would ever be able to leave Europe.

They came here looking for a farm with running water, enough buildings to house 50 people and within walking distance of a railroad station. They went two-by-two visiting farms and parishes, so much so they joked they were becoming real estate agents.
 
Liturgy was the unifying factor of the Grail community. There was a lot of singing. It became a quiet, peace-filled beautiful space; an agricultural and religious life.

The “Year School” was a training program for young women “focused on an integrated life of work and prayer, study and fun”.

Throughout the decades, the Grailville Retreat Center brought visitors from all parts of the world to spend time in Loveland, Ohio.

At one time a truckload of goats, 400 chickens, milk cows, pigs, and canning and preserving 10,000 quarts of farm product. It was described as a rich life, however one “materially simple”. 

Spiritually and intellectually very rich. Very rich in things from the ground, sky, and God in many forms.
 
Trina Paulus said Grailville was a “simplicity” that was ideal for her as a young woman. 

Art was equal to every other thing that happened at Grailville.

Visual arts, music, and writing. 

Paulus said she thought that the Dutch brought tremendous respect for the arts when they came to this country and Loveland. “It was equal to every other thing we did.” 

Grailville had a weaving guild.

Listen to how the Grail women reached beyond Loveland to the world. 

They were not there to hold onto what they were doing. Many of the programs that Grailville started were spun out into the world beyond Loveland. 

The women launched things that were much broader than themselves.

Grailville didn’t look like a church from the outside.

  • FDA Authorizes Second Booster Dose of Two COVID-19 Vaccines for Older and Immunocompromised Individuals

    FDA Authorizes Second Booster Dose of Two COVID-19 Vaccines for Older and Immunocompromised Individuals

    Today, the  U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). authorized a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for older people and certain immunocompromised individuals. https://bit.ly/3NuxvY6

    They previously authorized a single booster dose for certain immunocompromised individuals following completion of a three-dose primary vaccination series.

    This action will now make a second booster dose of these vaccines available to other populations at higher risk for severe disease, hospitalization and death according to a FDA news release.

    The emergency use authorizations was amended as follows:

    • A 2nd booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines may be administered to people 50+ years old at least 4 months after receipt of a 1st booster dose of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine.
    • A 2nd booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine may be administered to people 12+ years old with certain kinds of immunocompromise at least 4 months after receipt of a 1st booster dose of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine.
    • A 2nd booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine may be administered at least 4 months after the 1st booster dose of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine to people 18+ years old with the same certain kinds of immunocompromise.

    Today’s announcement applies only to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, and the authorization of a single booster dose for other age groups with these vaccines remains unchanged.

    READ the full news release HERE.

  • Ricky Mulvey talks with Jacob Goldstein about drone delivery, self-driving cars, the future, and Loveland, Ohio

    Ricky Mulvey talks with Jacob Goldstein about drone delivery, self-driving cars, the future, and Loveland, Ohio

    Ricky Mulvey interned at Loveland Magazine for 5-years while he was a student in the Loveland School District and now lives in Denver, Colorado. He recently emceed the meet the candidate night for Loveland Magazine last November.

    It’s 2022. Weren’t we supposed to have flying drones delivering packages to our homes by now? Ricky Mulvey talks with Jacob Goldstein, host of the new Pushkin podcast “What’s Your Problem?”, about drone delivery, self-driving cars, and the future problems that entrepreneurs are trying to solve right now.

    A Drone delivery company that actually works, because they are actually running a big drone delivery company that works right now. They’re actually “doing the thing,” says Goldstein.

    Mulvey doesn’t forget his hometown and talks briefly about Loveland, Ohio in this podcast.

    Mulvey asks the question about the behavior of people living in a place like Loveland, Ohio, and will we ever give up the “privilege” of just being able to hop in a car and go”. Will we get used to our packages being parachuted in from a drone over our front yard or place of business?

    Mulvey’s segment starts at 14:30.

    We’re still in love with this independently produced podcast by Ricky Mulvey:

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    The Big News From Apple’s Event… here is Ricky Mulvey.

    The Power of Creating a “Good Enough for Now” Mindset… . In this podcast, Motley Fool producer Ricky Mulvey talks with Evans about: The power of creating a “good enough …

    Pulling the Curtain Back on Just-in-Time Delivery… producer Ricky Mulvey talks with Mims about his book, covering topics including: The roots of the microchip …

    What Crypto to Buy Now, and More Top Questions Answered… Bernd Schmid joins producer RickyMulvey to discuss what long-term investors should look …

    Alphabet’s Discipline, 5G’s Potential, and Microsoft’s Big Buy… , RickyMulvey, caught up with LaConte to talk about Vail’s difficult holiday season. How the company …

    “Grand Theft Auto” Comes to “FarmVille” as Take-Two Buys Zynga… -light and capital-heavy businesses this upcoming earnings season. Later in the show, RickyMulvey talks with Maria …

  • Expert: Hard to know if COVID variant will surge in U.S. or how badly

    Expert: Hard to know if COVID variant will surge in U.S. or how badly

    BY: MARTY SCHLADEN – Ohio Capital Journal

    The last thing people want to hear right now is that the coronavirus might have mutated yet again into yet another deadly variant, extending the pain, death, and inconvenience of a pandemic that we long hoped would be over.

    However, whether the subvariant of omicron known as BA.2 will hit the United States as hard as it’s hitting other parts of the world is hard to say at this point, an expert at modeling the disease said Wednesday.

    The pandemic has been full of unpleasant surprises and BA.2 is no exception. Scientists estimate that it’s one-and-a-half times as transmissible as the original omicron strain, BA.1, and is overtaking it.

    Europe, and particularly the United Kingdom, have seen an increase in the new variant in recent months, but that hasn’t been the case everywhere, said Stephen Kissler, a research fellow in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases of Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

    “The question of if and when a surge is coming and how large is very open,” Kissler said in a Zoom conference with reporters. “I know that we’ve seen surges that are dominated by BA.2 across much of Europe. But in contrast, for example, in South Africa we saw a major BA.1 wave — that’s where we saw the omicron wave first — and now there’s a lot of circulation of BA.2, but it hasn’t really caused an increase in cases so much that it’s lengthened the decline and given the epidemic a very long tail.”

    Kissler explained that vaccination rates in the U.S. are lower than those in Europe, but higher than those in South Africa. That could mean that more Americans have developed antibodies against the omicron variants than have Europeans.

    “To the extent that that gives us protection against BA.2 we might see dynamics that are more similar to what happened in South Africa,” he said.

    Seasonality and other factors likely will play a role, Kissler said, with spring in the United States being a season of relatively low spread and fall a season of relatively high spread.

    So if there is a surge here of the new variant, how will it affect Americans of varying ages?

    “In many ways it will likely resemble our experience with COVID-19 up to this point,” Kissler said.

    And past experience has shown one factor to be hugely important: vaccination. 

    Kissler said that being vaccinated, along with a booster dose, “really goes a long way toward helping to protect you from symptomatic disease and especially severe disease. The biggest delineation I imagine seeing is that people who are boosted will probably fare better than people who are unboosted.”

    Another important factor is age, with the elderly having less natural resistance to all variants of the coronavirus than the young. Vaccines and boosters, though, can be a great equalizer.

    “A vaccinated and boosted person over the age of 75, their risk is probably on the order of — if not lower than — an unvaccinated 20-year-old,” Kissler said.

    COVID eventually will go from being a pandemic disease that spikes rapidly and overwhelms resources to an endemic one where a background level is present, sickening and even killing people, but in semi-predictable ways. Sadly, however, hopes that it will disappear altogether are small.

    Looking forward, one simple public-health measure might be most effective, Kissler said.

    “In many ways, one of the best things we can do to manage outbreaks is to just to continue to keep informing people how much COVID is circulating in their communities and make it just as accessible as a weather report,” he said. “A lot of data suggest that people tend to adjust their behavior accordingly.”

    He said that probably won’t be enough to quell future waves of COVID, or be adequate in the face of major new variants.

    “But as we continue to deal with COVID and we think about this permanent circulation of COVID-19 in the population — recognizing that there’s going to be different dynamics in different places, different patterns across the year — making it clear what’s happening in any given community at any given time through passive surveillance is probably the best thing we can do right now,” he said.

  • Loveland FIRST Tech Challenge Team advances to World Championship

    Loveland FIRST Tech Challenge Team advances to World Championship

    Team 10464 The Bionic Tigers at the KY State FTC Championship

    The Bionic Tigers will be competing in the World Championship in Houston, TX from April 20-23.  The World Championship features 160 of the top FTC Teams from over 6300 teams around the world, and this is the 3rd year in a row The Bionic Tigers have qualified for Worlds.

    Loveland, Ohio – Loveland FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Teams 10464, The Bionic Tigers, and 5040, Nuts & Bolts, competed in the Ohio FTC Championship on March 5. The event, which was held remotely, included presentations to a panel of judges where teams had the opportunity to share the design and development of their robot, their outreach efforts to support STEM and robotics in their community, and their involvement with industry professionals. Teams also submitted scores for 6 robot matches, that were completed on their home fields, trying to score the maximum points possible in two and a half minute matches.  

    Based on their judging and robot performance, Team 5040, Nuts & Bolts, won the Motivate Award and 2nd place robot performance. The Motivate Award recognizes a team that makes a collective effort to make their team known throughout their community and school. Team 10464 won 4th place robot performance and the Think Award, which is the 2nd highest award for the event.  The Think Award is given to the team whose Engineering Portfolio best reflects the team’s journey through the design and build process for their robot.   

    Team 10464 The Bionic Tigers also competed on March 12 at the Kentucky FTC State Championship at Murray St. University. This competition was their first in-person competition in 2 years due to Covid restrictions, and the event included teams from Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas.  

    At the start of the day, the Bionic Tigers and all competing teams presented to panels of judges for evaluation for awards. Teams also submitted a 15-page engineering portfolio summarizing all of their robot design and development, outreach work with other teams and the community, and connections with the professional STEM community. Following judging, they competed in 6 rounds of qualifying matches and were ranked 3rd in a very competitive field. The top 4 ranked teams became the alliance captains for the elimination rounds, and the Bionic Tigers selected two Kentucky teams as alliance partners. They lost a close match in the semi-finals, and the 1st seed alliance went on to win the robot portion of the competition.


    Team 5040 Nuts & Bolts

    To close out the exciting day, in the awards ceremony the Bionic Tigers won the top award of the event, the Inspire Award. This award recognizes the best all-around team that has shown success in designing and building a competitive robot and shares their experiences, enthusiasm, knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community, and the judges. The Bionic Tigers also won Promote Award for their video answering the prompt “If there was one thing I would tell my younger self about FIRST it would be…”. 

    As the Inspire Award winner, the Bionic Tigers have advanced to the FTC World Championship in Houston, TX from April 20-23.

    Loveland FTC teams are supported by many generous sponsors including Loveland American Legion Post 256, Sugar Creek Foods, Procter & Gamble, Standex Electronics, CBT Company, Kinetic Vision, Harlow Law Office, and Jarvis Global Investments.

    The Bionic Tigers are seeking additional sponsors to help cover the travel costs for the World Championship in Houston. Please contact lovelandroboticsboosters@gmail.com if you are interested in helping sponsor the trip.

    Loveland Robotics Boosters will be hosting Breakfast with the Bots, a pancake Breakfast fundraiser, on Saturday, April 9.  Tickets are available at www.lovelandroboticsboosters.org.