Boys & Girls Club Robotics Team
win judges special award

After an impressive showing in their first robotics competition last year, The Stompers honed their skills and entered the 2014 First Lego League Challenge. 

 Club members from both Santa Paula and Fillmore sites form the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley’s Robotics Team, The Stompers.  With the guidance of coaches, Lorenzo Manzano and Manuel Ortiz, practicing for the challenge included preparing for the robot game, project and core value portions of the competition.  While at the First Lego League Challenge they put their science skills to use and utilized robotics and technology to discover innovative ways to help people learn.  For their project portion of the competition the team chose to focus primarily on how to improve the way people learn multiplication.  Coach Lorenzo Manzano explains, “Through their research The Stompers came up with the novel idea to make a song about multiplication that could easily be taught and shared.”  

With thirty teams competing, The Stompers impressed with their multiplication song and earned themselves the Judges Special Recognition Award for the second year in a row.  Jan Marholin, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley proudly states, “I’m so impressed with our Robotics Team. This is our second year of competition and to have our team receive the Judges Special Recognition Award for the second time, in a different city among different teams and different judges- this is huge for us. This shows the dedication and integrity of our coaches and youth.  This is truly an inspiration for all of the youth at our Clubs.”  Recognizing the importance of hands-on science, technology, engineering and math learning opportunities, Time Warner Cable through its Connect a Million Minds Initiative, is the proud sponsor of The Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley First Lego League Robotics Program.

About Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds

Time Warner Cable’s (TWC) Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) is a five-year, $100 million philanthropic initiative to address America’s declining proficiency in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), which puts our children at risk of not competing successfully in a global economy. Using its media assets, TWC creates awareness of the issue and inspires students to develop the STEM skills they need to become the problem solvers of tomorrow. Program highlights include: original PSAs that challenge public perceptions of STEM; a unique website, www.connectamillionminds.com, and “The Connectory”, a one-of-a-kind online resource that makes it simple and easy for parents and students to find informal science and technology learning opportunities in their communities. Local TWC markets have activated CAMM across the country with community-specific programs and partnerships.