Geneva's first robotics team will show its mettle at UIC

If you hear Mary Keyzer talking about "lunacy," she's not referring to something going on at work or in her personal life.

The Geneva High School social studies teacher would be referring to the theme that the school's first robotics team will tackle in an upcoming competition.

"It's in honor of the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon," said Keyzer, who is overseeing a team of 12 Geneva students who will take part in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Team competition Feb. 26-28 at the UIC Pavilion.

Thanks to several business sponsors, Geneva is joining this fray for the first time. The goal is to build a robot from a kit that is given to the team and have it perform well in a predetermined "game" in an arena at the competition.

"The team has to create a robot that, first of all, will drive on a surface similar to the moon and then carry a trailer," Keyzer said. "Then the object of the game is keep some special balls out of your trailer, while trying to put them on other robots' trailers."

With a business like Home Depot donating some materials, and a business like The Label Printers in Aurora asking if Geneva High School needed some support, it is easy to see that plenty of interest exists in our kids' education.

Lori Campbell, general manager of The Label Printers, said her company is excited about backing this program.

"Geneva is a 'rookie' team, but we are 'rookie' sponsors, so we're looking forward to learning and having fun, along with the students, teachers, parents and community members."

He brought it up: A press release about the West Aurora Robotics team earning a prize in a recent competition came via e-mail about the same time I got word that Geneva High School was entering its first team in competition.

It reminded me that nearly 20 years ago, local businessman Terry Grove of Geneva was one of the first to approach me with a simple question: Why don't kids who are interested in science, math and engineering get recognition similar to that heaped upon those who participate in sports?

You wouldn't find a gymnasium full of fans paying to see a Mathletes competition or a demonstration of a science project every week, but the point was well taken. I have always tried to make sure I mention kids involved in interesting educational projects in the sciences and arts.

Not a bad idea?: Maybe the Geneva School Board wasn't so outlandish in its thinking about 10 years ago when approaching homeowners along Anderson Boulevard with a pitch to buy their homes.

The idea at the time was to let neighbors know if they had any intention of selling, or would like to consider it, the school board was hoping to obtain land for future parking.

It all came across as a move to uproot folks before they were ready, but looking back on it now, and based on home values going down, some of those homeowners may be thinking it wasn't such a bad idea.

The debate about the lack of student parking around the high school continues today, entering about its third decade as a topic on the boardroom table.

I view Geneva High School like a Wrigley Field of sorts. It is built tightly in a neighborhood within the city, with no major roads feeding into and out of it, and no large parking lots available next to it.

Hitting our targets: Art Kantor of St. Charles was an interesting fellow, that's for sure.

When Art passed away last week, I immediately thought of the day when he and I made our mark, or hit our targets, in the Pottawatomie Community Center gym.

We were participating in the three-point shooting contest of what was then called the Service Club Olympics. I finished first and Art was second in that contest staged by the St. Charles Park District about 15 years ago.

OK, so there were only five people entered in that category, but Art never stopped talking about how well we did. And he loved firing up those three-pointers.

Most people may remember Art as a businessman on Main Street with the Valley Illustrators print shop, but he was a sportsman at heart with a love of softball, basketball, bowling and fishing.

Another who left us: I was shocked to hear about another of my service club members passing away last week when Jim Krempel of St. Charles died after more than a week in the hospital, trying to recover from a head injury he suffered after slipping on the ice. It's tough to say goodbye to these guys, after knowing how much time they put into helping their communities and how devoted they were to our club's cause of preventing child abuse.

dheun@sbcglobal.net