L.O.U.I.E. and Friends Visit 2D

As part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program at school, Mrs. Dengel extended an invitation to computer science engineer and former college professor Paul Yost to visit the 2D classroom. Mr. Yost brought to school his robotic creation L.O.U.I.E., as well as three of his mini-robot creations which resemble insects, and thus, named BrainBugs. The goal of his visit was to expose the children to real world applications of engineering and to get them excited about this fastest growing industry in the world today. The children not only viewed these machines with great interest, but they had numerous questions about what L.O.U.I.E. could and could not do. They quickly learned that L.O.U.I.E. could move his head and eyes, respond to questions, and even snore while he was napping. After examining chips and boards which effected how these machines worked, the children explored the BrainBugs, noting the various lengths of their legs. The "bugs" were put to the test in a race after the children predicted which BrainBug would cross the finish line first. If you click on the first video, you will not only see which BrainBug won, but you will also hear the children's cheers that "carried" it across the finish line first. Then open the second video to hear Mr. Yost explain what makes the robots work and even hear L.O.U.I.E. speak.

Stations of the Cross

Lent began with Ash Wednesday. Each week during Lent the children go over to church to recite and reflect upon the Stations of the Cross. This Catholic Lenten tradition retraces Jesus' journey from being condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, to His crucifixion and death on the cross, to finally being taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb. The children retrace Christ's steps and reflect upon His love for us by relating each station to their daily lives. Traditionally, the stations are numbered in Roman numerals. Consequently, not only are the Stations of the Cross a religious lesson; they are also a math lesson in translating the Roman numerals to standard numbers.

The cross that the children carry during the Stations of the Cross was crafted by one of Mrs. Dengel's former students when he was in second grade. The cross looks exactly as it did twenty years ago.

The first video shows the children at the sixth station. The second video shows the children concluding the stations by reciting the Act of Contrition in the sanctuary near the crucified Christ behind the main altar.