Tag: technology

LEAAD’s ‘Right Under Your Nose 2.0’ a success for parents

Miami Township Police Chief Sue Madsen, Loveland Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse, and Loveland Police Chief Sean Rahe presenting at the Right Under Your Nose 2.0 event.

By Johnnie Kanoza,

Great success.

That’s the way participants of the Loveland Educating Against Alcohol & Drugs (LEAAD) Right Under Your Nose (RUYN) 2.0 event described the Sunday, March 11, informational session at Prince of Peace Church. Attended by Loveland parents and members of the surrounding communities, the event was designed as an educational opportunity for adults only, uncoveringthe hidden dangers that students face on a daily basis, including: substance abuse, violence, juvenile crime, technology, and risky behaviors.

The evening was kicked off by hearing a powerful, joint message from Loveland Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse, Loveland Police Chief Sean Rahe and Miami Township Police Chief Sue Madsen expressing their commitment of locking arms to make our communities safer as we face the drug epidemic through promoting awareness.

RUYN 2.0 educated us on several ways as parents we can help guide and lead our children. In these rapidly changing times where technology has become a key mode of communication, it is important to equip parents with information about what their students have access to. LEAAD Executive Committee Member and Loveland Middle School Assistant Principal Jayson Bruce did an outstanding job on sharing insight about different apps and aspects of social media, coaching parents that conversations with children around the potential dangers of technology and social media are as important as conversations around the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

Loveland School Resource Officer Fred Barnes shared his knowledge on drug paraphernalia and use, along with telltale signs to look for in the bedrooms of our children. The “mock bedroom” display was a great way to bring his message together. Officer Barnes reminded us all the power of simply talking to our children, and even more importantly, always listening and knowing they are looking for guidance.

Speaker Beth Renner shared a powerful, personal story of loss as she talked about her son Zack, who lost his life to addiction. It was a poignant message filled with courage and her hope to impact one life as she continues to share her story.

As the program coordinator of LEAAD, I want to offer a special and sincere thank you to Loveland’s Prince of Peace Church for allowing us to host our event in their beautiful facility, and to all of the community resources that made this such a great evening.

Johnnie Kanoza is the Program Coordinator for Loveland Educating Against Alcohol & Drugs

As we move forward into spring, LEAAD’s mission is to continue leading, educating and promoting awareness about alcohol and drug abuse throughout the Loveland community. We are dedicated to providing the resources and tools to help keep our schools, neighborhoods and surrounding communities safe. Our hope is through events like this we will activate our community to take action, join together and stand united as one.

More details on the event will be located on our LEAAD Facebook page, along with other events we will be participating in.

Our work is just getting started. There are many great things in the works for next school year. Stay tuned!

May 2, 2018

Record crowd inspired by world’s largest celebration of young innovators and changemakers including LHS students at FIRST Championship in Detroit as more than 40,000 people attended to Watch Students Compete with Team-Built Robots

In the photo above is Loveland High School’s Team 5040

Back row (L to R) Jacob Chiarenzelli, Jackson Daumeyer, Loveland Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse, Bryce Reinhold, Nate Matuszak, Chad Royal; Middle row (L to R) Kai Reinhold, Haley Dues, Matt Spitzley, Ben Kavouras; Back row (L to R) Stephanie Spitzley, Garrett Royal, Cooper Baumgarth and Kat Sanderson

**More Than 40,000 people attended to watch, including 15,000 students ages 6-18 Compete with Team-Built Robots**

Detroit – Last week, more than 15,000 students from around the world traveled to Detroit, putting their innovation skills to the test at the annual FIRST Championship Presented by Qualcomm® Incorporated, held at the Cobo Center and Ford Field, including Team 5040 from Loveland High School.

In the championship Loveland 5040 went undefeated in qualifying rounds and won the Ochoa division semifinals. The team ended their season as one of the top 12 teams with an impressive record of 82-10.

The four-day event came down to a heart-pounding conclusion Saturday night in front of thousands of cheering fans at Ford Field when teams competed in match finals for the FIRST® Robotics Competition and FIRST® Tech Challenge world championships. Four teams from Kalamazoo, Michigan; Clarkston, Michigan; Kingston, Ontario, Canada; and State College, Pennsylvania, were the FIRST Robotics Competition Winning Alliance for this year’s game, FIRST POWER UP^SM. Teams from Lexington, Massachusetts; Baden, Pennsylvania; and Lexington, Massachusetts, were the FIRST Tech Challenge RELIC RECOVERY^SM Winning Alliance.

Loveland 5040 earned their spot in Detroit by first qualifying through Ohio as the State Champion. The team then competed in the North Super Regional with the best 72 teams from 13 states where Loveland 5040 finished in the finalist alliance advancing them to Detroit.

“After watching the students in action in Detroit – I think I can officially say Team 5040 has made me a robotics groupie,” said Loveland Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse, who Tweeted updates as the team progressed. “We are sincerely so very proud of this team, and we know they will return even bigger and better next year as the organization continues to grow.”

Students ages 6-18 participated in FIRST Championship Detroit. FIRST Championship, the world’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for students, kicked off last week with 15,000 students in Houston.

Among the participants, many earned honors for design excellence, competitive play, research, business plans, website design, and teamwork. A not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) inspires innovation and leadership in young people through engaging, team-based robotics challenges. Kamen invented of the segway.

In Detroit, 700 robotics teams from 37 countries across the four FIRST programs participated. More than 91,000 students on 3,650 teams from 37 countries competed during the 2018 season.

FIRST President Donald E. Bossi said: We’re marking the culmination of another fantastic FIRST season, and once again, we’ve had fantastic growth. More than half-a-million young people directly participated in our programs, which engaged 61,000 teams, an impressive 23 percent increase from just last year. We will not stop [growing] until all students have access to the education and experiences that FIRST programs provide.

“On behalf of my team I want to say a very special thank you to Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse and LHS Principal Peggy Johnson for traveling to Detroit to watch us compete,” said LHS student and team member Garrett Royal. “They are some of our biggest supporters, and we are grateful to them. We also want to thank former athletic director, Juliann Renner, who supported us like we were one of her athletic teams, and LHS Teacher Phil Marchal and volunteer Mark Chast for starting and coaching this team seven years ago. We are thankful for your vision and leadership that has touched so many students over the years.”

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, addressed FIRST supporters: What you do right here at FIRST is extraordinarily important. It’s not just about robotics. It’s not just about science. It’s about people. It’s about collaborating. It’s about making it happen. It’s about forming teams, mentoring teams, sharing your experience. Whether you are a volunteer, a donator, a sponsor, a supporter, a participant, a parent, a teacher, you make a difference, and here we just use the incredible world of science and technology to do so and we prepare the future in so many different ways.

FIRST® Tech Challenge World Championship

FIRST Tech Challenge students learn to think like engineers. Teams build robots from a reusable kit of parts, develop strategies, document their progress, and compete head to head. In the 2017-18 game, FIRST RELIC RECOVERY, teams work in an alliance to go on a robot adventure. The goal is to score more points than the opposing alliance during 150 seconds of game play that includes autonomous and driver-controlled periods.

Their performance at the FIRST World Championship earned Loveland 5040 an exclusive invitation to compete over the summer at the Maryland Technical Invitational (MTI). At MTI teams from all over the world will meet for a weekend of competition and learning. Scientists and engineers from the Space Sector of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory will speak about two of their cutting-edge missions, New Horizons and Dragonfly.

Team 5040, Nuts & Bolts, Loveland, Ohio was a Division Finalists in the Ochoa Division:

“It has been an amazing year, and we couldn’t have done it without incredible support,” said LHS Teacher and Robotics Coordinator Amy Stewart. “I want to send a huge thank you to Coach Chad Royal, Mentors Peter Kavouras, Eric Spitzley and Chris Reinhold.”

Want to be a part of Loveland Robotics?

The Loveland Robotics Teams are very grateful for all businesses that support them and we are looking for additional sponsors. Sponsorship can take many forms, from expertise in a specific field to materials to financial assistance.

Our Team Business Plan provides information about all aspects of our FTC teams. Questions about the Business Plan or any of the Teams can be sent to Amy Stewart at stewaram@lovelandschools.org.

Apr 30, 2018

Loveland HS Robotics team headed to world-wide competition

by Sam Smith

Loveland, OH– Loveland Robotics Team 5040 has found success this season, leading them to compete against teams from over sixty different countries at FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) worlds. Loveland will compete against 120 teams with an average of ten players per team. The competition in Detroit, Michigan is a result of three local tournaments and a state championship where the team was chosen to advance.

The team has been preparing since September, The team meets three nights a week, and individuals often meet outside of officially scheduled robotics meetings. The team has been perfecting their robot for eight months and their hard work will pay off in the attendance of the World Competition from April 24th-28th.

Loveland Robotics Team 5040 Back Row: Jackson Daumeyer, Ben Kavouras, Bryce Reinhold, Garrett Royal, Jacob Chiarenzelli, Matthew Spitzley, Nate Matuszak, Kat Sanderson Front Row: Kai Reinhold, Haley Dues, Stephanie Spitzley, Cooper Baumgarth

“This competition gives us the opportunity to interact with the next generation of STEM professionals while providing a unique challenge to help us grow in all aspects from building a robot to communication skills,” Senior, Garrett Royal explained.

Team 5040 prepares to test new changes to their robot

FTC Robotics is an organization backed by tech and STEM companies that challenge 7-12th-grade students to design, build, program and operate robots in order to overcome a specific obstacle. The program aims to help teach students about the growing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields and encourage improvement in communication, problem-solving and leadership. While building robots is at the core of the program, students must also fight for sponsorships and coordinate money management.

There are roughly forty students in the Loveland Robotics program, and 12 on team 5040. Within 5040, there are subteams focused on building, programming and business. Each subteam has a leader who keeps their group on-task and moving forward. The teams are overseen by Loveland engineering teacher, Ms. Amy Stewart.

The robotics team meets on a Sunday afternoon to improve and plan

The mechanical guts of team 5040’s 2018 build

Each year in September, a new FTC challenge, or “game”, is announced. This year, teams compete in a game called Relic Recover. The teams are challenged to stack cubes called Glyphs into a 3×4 “Cryptobox”. Specific patterns allow teams to earn more points. Additionally, there is a plastic figure known as a “relic” that the robot is programmed to pick up and move over a wall in order to increase points. The goal is to move the relic as far as possible.

“We do a lot of drive practice. We run match after match, trying to get faster and more consistent at each element of the game. This has helped us learn how to manage problems and what to expect during actual competition. Our drivers have been able to master their controls, which is something a lot of other teams do not have as much practice in,” Senior, Haley Dues explained.

Team 5040 practices building a Cryptobox. Different brown/white patterns are placed into the vertical 3×4 box for varying points.

Last year, the two robotics teams also found success– Team 10464 competed in the State Tournament for the second straight year, and Team 5040 traveled to the World Championship marking the first time in Loveland history a team has competed on the world level.

An arm extends a piece of the challenge over the arena wall

Although the prize for winning worlds is just a trophy (and bragging rights), the team sees it as an exciting opportunity.

“Every robot has something unique about it and it’s fun to talk to people who are just as nerdy about robots as you,” Bryce Reinhold explained in regards to the Worlds competition.

The competition will livesteam here. If you are interested in helping sponsor the $10,000 yearly cost of running the two FTC teams, visit the Loveland Robotics website.

Application packets for the Loveland robotics team can be picked up by interested high schools students from Ms. Stewart in room 128 and are due April 20th.

Jarvis Global Investments, LLC

Jarvis Global is an investment advisory firm in Symmes Township, Ohio which offers private portfolio management and retirement services to high net worth individuals.

Apr 16, 2018
Loveland Educating Against Alcohol and Drugs (LEAAD) joins forces with the Governor’s Office

Start Talking! lunch a way to open communication to help students

Members of Loveland Educating Against Alcohol and Drugs (LEAAD) met with the Stephen Caraway from the Governor’s Office Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018 to learn about Start Talking! – an initiative to give parents, guardians, educators, business, and community leaders the tools to start the conversation with Ohio’s youth about the importance of living healthy, drug-free lives.

Loveland, Ohio – Tuesday, Feb. 13, inside the Loveland Middle School Media Center, it was a lunch date with a purpose – help all Ohio students make good choices. At the table with Loveland Educating Against Alcohol and Drugs (LEAAD) – the office of the Ohio Governor – and on the agenda for both groups was a focused conversation on the “Start Talking!” program, an initiative to give parents, guardians, educators, business, and community leaders the tools to start the conversation with Ohio’s youth about the importance of living healthy, drug-free lives.

“Through LEAAD, Loveland has been a leader in spearheading these – many times – difficult conversations as we work to get in front of the drug epidemic that has impacted so many people in our state,” said Loveland Interim Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse. “We were happy to host the Governor’s regional liaison, Stephen Caraway, as he works to get the message out about the Start Talking! program. This was a healthy exchange of ideas and best practices, and we are certain the conversation will continue.”

“Governor Kasich’s work to fight drug abuse and addiction began even before he took office, and over the last seven years, Ohio has put in place one of the nation’s most aggressive and comprehensive approaches to fighting opiate addiction and drug overdoses,” said Stephen Caraway, regional liaison to the Governor. “Ohio continues to provide tools and resources to local communities to help combat addiction and drug abuse and it is imperative that communities collaborate with those on the frontlines of this battle and put the resources to work in neighborhoods. The Governor’s Regional office appreciated the opportunity to hear about the important work of the LEAAD organization, and we encourage anyone to contact our office if they would like to have someone from Start Talking! give a presentation.

“The evil we’re fighting continues to take on a changing face, making it essential that communities have a determined, community-based sense of commitment and a shared purpose to make progress. We’re thankful for the work you are doing in your community.”

LEAAD presented Right Under Your Nose Sunday, March 11, at Prince of Peace Church. Designed as an educational opportunity for adults only, Right Under Your Nose uncovers the hidden dangers that students face on a daily basis, including: substance abuse, violence, juvenile crime, technology, and risky behaviors.

Apr 6, 2018
Loveland High School seniors Emily Kiehl and Radu Vasilescu receive $3,000 grant

The CEI Foundation awards grant to teens’ project using virtual reality to treat eye disorder

Blue Ash, Ohio – The Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation, the charitable foundation of Cincinnati Eye Institute, has awarded two seniors at Loveland High School a grant of $3,000. The Foundation’s Research Committee, chaired by Robert Sisk, M.D., made this IGNITE grant to fund an innovative treatment for children with amblyopia, also known as lazy eye. This grant will fund additional computer equipment that will allow children to use virtual reality glasses to play games while strengthening eye muscles.

Emily Kiehl and Radu Vasilescu came up with the idea to use Oculus Rift virtual reality technology to simulate patching one’s eye and playing games filled with perspective and optical depth perspective on the eye needing therapy.

Kiehl, who was born with amblyopia and was successfully treated for the condition, sees this as a potential treatment method. “Using the VR headset, we believe that children can force their brain to start using both eyes evenly,” Kiehl said.

“By surpassing 40 plus college-level teams with our high school prototype, we proved our project is worthwhile and has recognized potential.” – Radu Vasilescu

Kiehl and Vasilescu built a prototype of this design at the University of Cincinnati event “Revolution UC,” a 24-hour, team-based project development competition and won the first place prize awarded by a panel of IT professionals. They invested the winnings from this prize into development of the project.

“By surpassing 40 plus college-level teams with our high school prototype, we proved our project is worthwhile and has recognized potential,” added Vasilescu.

Kiehl and Vasilescu previously built a computer from scrap parts and a loaned graphics card. The computers will enable them to expand their research into the effectiveness of this approach.

Kiehl and Vasilescu presented the idea to The Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation and were awarded a $3,000 grant which they will use to purchase two high-powered computers needed to run the program. The students previously built a computer from scrap parts and a loaned graphics card. The computers will enable them to expand their research into the effectiveness of this approach.

“We are happy to award Emily and Radu an IGNITE grant for their forward-thinking and entrepreneurial approach to help children born with amblyopia.” – Patrick Ward

“We are happy to award Emily and Radu an IGNITE grant for their forward-thinking and entrepreneurial approach to help children born with amblyopia,” said Patrick Ward, president of The Cincinnati Eye Institute Foundation. “We support efforts for new treatments to help eye disorders, and know that this project has the ability to help many young children.”

The team is hoping to involve students in the Loveland School District, as well as Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in their project to help them test out the technology.

Both Kiehl and Vasilescu will graduate from Loveland High School this spring and will pursue computer science degrees; Kiehl will attend the University of Cincinnati and Vasilescu will attend Duke University.

Watch this video where Emily and Radu explain their invention and talk about what it does.

Also read this story about Emily Kiehl and Radu Vasilescu:

Loveland High School seniors Emily Kiehl and Radu Vasilescu receive $3,000 grant

Wildflower House — where women & girls bloom!

Mar 19, 2018
Loveland schools, University of Cincinnati partnership announced with formal signing ceremony

(First row, L to R:) Loveland High School (LHS) Teacher Phil Marchal, Loveland Interim Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse, University of Cincinnati (UC) Director of School of Information Technology (IT) Dr. Hazem Said, LHS Principal Peggy Johnson; (Second row, L to R:) Patrick Keyser, Sogeti USA, Loveland Board of Education President Art Jarvis, Loveland Board of Education Vice President Dr. Kathryn Lorenz, Loveland Board of Education Member Eileen Washburn, Loveland Director of Secondary Programs Andrea Conner, UC Graduate Coordinator and Project Manager School of IT Lauren Kirgis

Pathway program will be ready for fall 2018

Loveland, Ohio – With cameras rolling to capture the significant moment, Loveland Interim Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse and University of Cincinnati (UC) Director of School of Information Technology Dr. Hazem Said made formal the new partnership between the educational institutions that will equip the Loveland City School District to offer college-level Information Technology (IT) course work to high school students. The formal signing ceremony took place just before the State of Schools Open House Thursday, Feb. 22, at Loveland High School.

“This partnership places Loveland students in a unique position for advanced learning opportunities that will qualify for college credit – a win for our families both academically and financially with the ever increasing student-loan debt that UC is sensitive to,” said Dr. Crouse. “We are simply thrilled to sit at the table with a school as premier as UC.”

“The UC Information Technology Early College program is a unique and innovative program that will enable Loveland students to complete the first year of the UC BSIT program in high school,” said Dr. Said. “Those who receive a C or above will receive automatic admission to the BSIT program to study Software Development, Cybersecurity, Networking/Systems and Game Development & Simulation. We are excited to work with the leaders at Loveland City Schools to make this program available to Loveland parents and students.”

The partnership with UC creates an Information Technology (IT) Academic Pathway for Loveland High School (LHS) students, and is part of the district’s strategic plan to bring Academic Pathways to Loveland students beginning in middle school. LHS students will have access to post-secondary IT coursework starting in ninth grade. LHS students will have the ability to earn college credit through the College Credit Plus (CCP) program, and Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

“Ultimately this partnership enables LHS students taking these courses to earn a masters degree through UC with only four years of college; it includes the courses they take through their senior year of high school plus four years of college,” explained Loveland Director of Secondary Programs Andrea Conner. “It also provides our Tiger students with the opportunity to apply for paid co-ops related to their course work the summer following their senior year.”

Along with having the IT Pathway ready for fall of 2018, the district has clearly defined Academic Pathways for careers in: Arts, Audio/Video Technology and Communication; Business Management and Administration; Health Science; and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – with the phase-in of additional pathways in the 2018-2019 school year.

Start the New Year Right

Welcome to All About Kids We invite you to come visit one of our convenient locations, talk to our staff and teachers and learn why.

Mar 9, 2018
Young innovators to watch – LHS students win national scholarship competition

“You’re changing people’s lives, you guys.” – CBS science reporter, David Welch Pogue

by Staff Writer Sam Smith

Las Vegas – It’s branded as “The Global Stage for Innovation” – and this year, two Loveland High School (LHS) students earned their place at the speaker platform. Seniors Emily Kiehl and Radu Vasilescu’s research project outshined hundreds of national project submissions, and the duo was selected as one of four scholarship-winning teams named “Young Innovators to Watch” by the Consumer Technology Association.

The MC for the presentation was TV science presenter, writer and CBS science reporter, David Welch Pogue who asked questions to Kiehl and Vasilescu. Pogue proclaimed, “You’re changing people’s lives, you guys.”

Kiehl and Vasilescu earned the opportunity to present their winning project at the 2018 Consumer Technology Association’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), on January 11 in Las Vegas. The CES is an annual gathering of the world’s business leaders and pioneering thinkers, with more than 184,000 in attendance. Lenovo flew Keihl and Vasilesciu to the convention in Nevada and received a $1000 check.

“Project Purple,” Kiehl and Vasilescu’s winning project, proposes a Virtual Reality treatment for Amblyopia, a medical condition that happens when the vision in one eye is reduced because the eye and the brain are not working properly.

“This was personal to my family,” explained Kiehl, who suffers from Amblyopia. “I’ve spent a lot of my years in doctors’ offices learning about [it].”

Watch the two present, starting at +2:08:

Vasilescu and Keihl’s presentation audience

Kiehl explained her medical situation to Vasilescu when the two students were working as lab partners during a freshman biology class. Kiehl had just undergone a recent eye surgery.

“Our lab was on cells, and we were tinting the cells purple and learning about them under a microscope,” said Vasilescu. “Suddenly Emily looked up, stared me dead in the eye and said, ‘Is that purple?’ That was the first time she ever saw the color purple.”

Fast forward a couple of years, and Project Purple was born at the University of Cincinnati’s RevolutionUC Hackathon, in April 2017. At the event, UC students formed over 40 teams and spent 24 hours competitively coding and developing projects.

“We won first place overall at that hackathon with the prototype for Project Purple,” said Vasilescu. “That gave us the motivation to continue.” Out of 40 college teams, the high school project took home 1st place for having the most potential and being the most creative.

Booths at CES

As national scholarship winners, Vasilescu and Kiehl plan to use the scholarship money to purchase resources to continue their Virtual Reality research on real patients. After finalizing the prototype, they are seeking a couple of willing participants for their planned longitudinal case-study.

“It is great to see students highly engaged in thinking about ways to solve problems,” said LHS teacher Phil Marchal, who mentors the students in their independent study course and supports their research and development. “Their project takes a relatively new technology and proposes a solution that potentially could make the lives of individuals better. What a neat learning experience.”

To learn more about Project Purple, please visit http://raduvasilescu.com/project-purple/

Learn more about the CES at https://www.ces.tech/

Radu Vasilescu’s website: http://raduvasilescu.com

Emily Kiehl’s website: https://emilydkiehl.weebly.com

LHS Senior, Emily Keihl

LHS Senior, Radu Vasilescu (Photo by Sam Smith)

Jan 15, 2018