Go Football Ninjas!

Monroe Magnet Middle School students will compete (for the third time) this Thursday, June 7, 2012 at the Jet Proportion Lab. I was given permission to volunteer in making their project presentable. When I came upon this project, (initially as Journalism article assignment for my students), I was struck by the creativity: their concept of Football Ninjas was playful. As a team we thought about how to incorporate the two into a simple uncomplicated way. A while after sorting out complicated ideas, the group decided on the typeface and they agreed on the grass and black fabric to mimic the ninja's uniform.
     I stopped by last Friday to put the pieces together and these enthusiastic, intelligent students were thrilled with the execution. Materials include: fake grass (thank you Home Depot), stencils (designed with help of Adobe Illustrator) cut out from foam board (thank you 99 cents store), ex-acto knife (thank you Wal-Mart..am I advertising huh?), white spray paint (thank you Home Depot), two yards of black fabric (thank you downtown L.A. Fashion District).  I want these students to win this time!

Journalism Club

I helped one of my Journalism students interview other students who were in the after school program called MESA. We found out the students took the challenge of building a machine (made out of wood) that would kick a football five meters far and two meters high. Their challenging project was submitted into a Science competition set out at Manual Arts High School back in November 2011. Luckily, their project reached the finals in Pasadena, CA outside the Jet Propulsion Lab. JPL's decision placed this project into the top ten at eighth place. But these students wish to get a college scholarship in their next competition next month. John wants to pursue Engineering, Janet, Medical, Monica, perhaps Electrical or Business, and Terry, CSI. Although the students' goals are different, their project shows proof of collaborative activities, a sense of accomplishment, even pride, and most importantly, "Its good for college, showing that you like to get involved."