Q: How do students make the honor roll:
A: To achieve honor roll, students must receive at least a 3.3 course proficiency average in all courses.
The BFA Robotics team works from October until the NE regional championship in March with hopes of making it to the world championships held every April. There are more than 600,000 students competing worldwide in which teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The competition changes every year adding elements the robot must perform in order to score the maximum amount of points. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as well as for community outreach,
Design/ Innovation as well as a number of other awards.
Mission
The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Vision
"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." Dean Kamen, Founder
Goals for students to learn during the process:
Practicing gracious professionalism
Design, build, and program robots
Apply real-world math and science concepts
Develop problem-solving, organizational, and team-building skills
Compete and cooperate in alliances and tournaments
Compete for a spot in the World Championship
Qualify for over $30 million in college scholarships of which we have had three students receive grants totaling nearly $100,000 worth of scholarship money for being part of the the team.
Project Objectives
Students will design the robot to accomplish the specific task that is set by the First Technical Challenge team. Each game has several elements that can be completed in order to score points. Accomplishing this will be measurable in terms of team members learning and applying what they have learned in order to complete any specific task in the competition. There are three parts to the game. The autonomous, driver controlled and end game. The team can pick what they want the robot to do at any particular time. There are options where they can choose an easier task over a more complicated one if they deem that one to be achievable. Being realistic is a very important during the design, building and competing at the event. For the team members to understand what they have to the potential to accomplish with what they know, what they have and what they have the ability to learn in the given amount of time. What we want our team members to know and be able to do becomes very clear as the season progresses. There is nothing that is prescribed to each individual, each one is expected to self select, programming, design, chassis construction, power-plant, wiring management, marketing, game management, Engineering notebook throughout the entire build season. Within each of these they are encouraged to be open, thoughtful, listen and learn, as many of this teams lessons in each area are taught through mentorship, from older members on the team. Looking ahead and working to plan next steps, plan for problems and possible solutions in order to meet the task at hand is a true life lesson.
Awards: Team members have received many scholarships over the past 10 years to colleges and universities such as Syracuse, RIT, WPI, Clarkson and others totaling nearly $300,000.
Dear Parents/Caregivers and Staff,
Recently, we tested our school’s air for radon gas. On 1/29/24, we placed radon detectors in our school. After a few days, we sent them to a lab to find out what the radon levels were in our school.
All test results were below the action level for radon. This means that no further action is needed right now.
What is radon?
Radon is a radioactive gas that has no color, smell or taste. It is naturally occurring in rocks, soil, and water. Everyone is exposed to some radon in indoor and outdoor air.
Does radon cause health problems?
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among people who don’t smoke. Radon decays into radioactive particles that can damage your lungs. Breathing in radon increases your risk of getting lung cancer over the course of your lifetime. Your risk of getting lung cancer from radon depends on the level of radon in the air you breathe, how long you are exposed to radon, and whether you smoke.
How much radon causes health problems?
The action level for radon is 4.0 picoCuries per liter (pCi/L). This means that if radon levels are found at or above 4.0 (pCi/L), the Health Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommend taking action to lower the levels. However, radon levels below 4.0 pCi/L still pose some risk, so the Health Department and EPA encourage taking action to lower radon levels below 2.0 pCi/L.
The Health Department encourages schools to retest every 5 years and after every major renovation project.
How can I test my home for radon?
If you are interested in testing your own home for radon you can request a free long-term test kit from the Health Department by calling 1-800-439-8550 or emailing radon@vermont.gov.
For more information about radon, visit www.healthvermont.gov/
If you have questions or concerns about the testing or radon levels in our school, please contact Polly Rico at .
Len Smith, Director of Facilities
Seniors and Families,
Here’s a recap of what we’ve completed to date regarding graduation, some reminders, and the culminating events calendar.
Recap:
Caps, gowns, and diplomas have been ordered! Payment will be due when you pick up your cap and gown on June 12th ($25, cash or check made payable to Balfour).
Reminders:
Senior Class Meeting during Advisory Tuesday, February 20th, 9:45 am in the PAC.
10 hrs of Community Service is due by May 17th. See Mr. Murray.
Seniors must share their completed PLP with their Advisor by June 1st. Additional PLP support is available every Thursday Call Back, from 7:30-8 am in the Library, or by filling out this form.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at 802-527-6400 or email me at tcallan@maplerun.org.
FRIDAYS - CHAT WITH A
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER!
