Laser focus from the boys during Regional Mission work.

Our Bears have a winning streak going on, and we’re proud to let you know it!

Not only did they place 11th in the Robot Performance category in last weekend’s State LEGO League competition — their highest finish ever — but our own Coach Nick Linscott brought home Coach of the Year AGAIN! The presentation of this particular award has not been made at the State level since 2005, when Mr. Linscott was also  its recipient. Does it sound like we have someone special leading our boys? We think so!  Tommy remarked, “I couldn’t do this without my coach. He helped the team through everything. To us, it’s obvious why he won Coach of the Year.”

The always humble Nick refocused the accolades back onto the boys during an assembly Monday morning, honoring the team’s accomplishments. “Rick was a rock while driving the robot,” Nick said. “He was focused and laser sharp on accumulating points during the mission. Tommy made an amazing recovery when he attempted to place a tool on the robot and it fell apart in his hands. He reassembled it and got it on the robot quick enough to make some more buzzer-beating points for us.”

“Everyone had a great part in this and I’m proud of their accomplishment,” he added. Michael said the best part of the weekend was really, “when Nick got his award.”

“I feel happy and excited that our teamwork didn’t fail,” Vincent commented.

“I would never done this at a regular public school,” Eddie said. “I would have felt like I would be judged (badly for joining LEGO League) there.”

“Going to Columbia was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had,” Dain remarked. “I’ve learned so much about technology while working with the robot.” Rick added, “It was a pretty cool experience.”

Only six more months until the 2012 Missions are released. Here on campus, we  can’t wait!

Team CCBS LEGO Men at Regional Competition

We are thrilled to announce that the CCBS LEGO League team has qualified to attend the South Carolina State Championship Tournament at Irmo High School near Columbia, S.C. on February 25, 2012. Coach Nick Linscott says, “We  achieved this through our own diligence, creativity and teamwork.”

The team competed in four areas: Core Values, Science Project Presentation, Robot Performance, and Robot Design. Out of a possible 4, the team scored 3.25 in Core Values, which involved a  tower-building activity which the boys had to perform without knowing any details ahead of time. The judges noted here that the team “worked very well together and all team members learned from each other.” They also said the Bears had a “very strong team attitude.”

In Project, which involved a hilarious rap written and performed by the team on the topic “Hand Washing,” the team placed 3rd overall. One judge gave the team a perfect 4.0. Their comments included, “Your presentation was fun!” and called it “very engaging and exceptionally imaginative.”

In the Robotics competition, the team was very consistent with all three scores between 96 and 106. They placed sixth overall in an event that was eventually won with a high score of 132.

Regarding the visit to Columbia next week, Eddie commented , “Although I didn’t think it would happen, it did! Now we’re going on to State. I’m excited and happy.” Congratulations to the whole team and we hope to see as many parents as we can in Columbia.

James drains the freethrow for the go-ahead point late in the 4th quarter.

The Bears triumphed over Seneca Two 50-45 last night in a nail-biter final game of the season.  James was perfect at the line with 4 of 4 attempts and also nailed the go-ahead point  in what seemed an unending barrage of fouls and lead changes during the fourth quarter. James also had the team high of 14 points scored, followed closely by Sam and Jimmy, each with 13. Loucas was nearly perfect on freethrows with 2 of 3 attempts made.

“I’m really proud of the way the guys didn’t give up, despite being down the first three quarters. They fought hard and came back to win it,” Coach Shep said.

The Bears now enter Tournament play with a match against Fair-Oak at Oakway Intermediate School Saturday, February 11 at 4:30. Go Bears!!

Diarist Jacob writes as the German Artilleryman "Freidrich"

In Social Studies this week, students got into the character of “Freidrich,” an artillery soldier in the German Army during World War I. His job in the book War Horse is to lead horses who pull heavy cannons and artillery shells to the front lines.

The assignment was to write three journal entries using events, locations and the appropriate language of the time to convey the mood of the story. Below is an excerpt from Jacob’s “Friedrich Diary.”

March 20, 1916

The winter is finally over and we all survived, however, the war is still going on. Now that the black horse has recovered, I can see just how beautiful this majestic creature is. His mane is thick and he has a sleek muscular body, truly beautiful. Of course the other horse is just as amazing but I feel I can understand this one more.  I pray to God that he survives this war and of course that we all do as well. I don’t think I would be able to handle it if he didn’t. I think I might really go mad like the other soldiers already think I am. And of course if the other horse dies, it would be just as much of a tragedy. But no matter which dies, the souls of both the remaining horse and I would be crushed and we might as well all die. Tonight I will ask the Lord to let us survive long enough to figure out a way to escape this unholy, desolate wasteland that the war has made.

May 19, 1916

I swear that if I do one more supply mission with these horses, I’m going to end up shooting someone. I have asked a million times, maybe even more than that, for them to stop giving us such a heavy load to carry. But they never care. They just laugh and keep adding more and more each time! The mud my two horses must pull the supplies through is deep enough to hold a young child in place until they grow to the age of 19 at least! How do they expect me to willingly force my horses through such a horrible thing time after time? But that is not the only problem. The war is getting worse and I fear we may soon have to enter the battlefield soon. I fear that if we do, we will not make it. I hope that if we do and I am shot that at least one of my beautiful horses will be able to escape and live on. This may be my last entry and if it is, to whoever finds this: Find the horses that match the drawings later in this book and let them know that Freidrich always thought of helping them as his greatest accomplishment ever.

The Cherokee Creek Bears upset Walhalla tonight in a 35-42 victory! Congratulations to the team and to Coaches Mike Shepherd and Chris Leamons for their leadership. The boys are completely psyched! Their coaches are very happy and the cheering section, which included a parent and Executive Director David LePere are all very proud. David says, “This was the best team play I’ve seen all season!”

Yeah, Bears!!!