May 2007

Visit us at the Boulder Creek Festival on Memorial Day weekend! We’ll be there with our new Lego® Mindstorms NXT robots and sumo board! This is a great opportunity to find out more about the school year and summer camp programs we offer, check out the new robots, or just stop by to say hello. Event information is at Boulder Creek Festival.

Bits, Bytes & Bots is now at your local Kids’ Nite Out Across America®!
We are now bringing robot sumo activities to local Kids’ Nite Out events in Longmont (May 19), and various Denver locations. Events are held in recreation centers on Friday or Saturday nights with various activities available for children age 8-14. More information and schedules are available at: Kids Night Out.

Bits, Bytes & Bots student movies now on YouTube.com!
Check out some stop motion animated movies made by our students at the BBB YouTube Site.

The Rockies Robot Fair and Competition was a BLAST!
The event was sold out, and the Sumo competition was the hit of the event! Even though many students initially had trouble with the light sensors, by the time the competition was ready to begin, everyone was able to participate in the competition with a working robot and light sensor. We will definitely need more space and more instructors for students next year! Congratulations to the winners of the competitions.

Our dedication to getting and keeping girls involved in technology…
We have been brainstorming and testing ways to get more girls involved in our programs for years, and we’re trying out some new ideas this summer! We’re evaluating our classes for gender bias, adding new non-Lego® props to our Brick Films classes, and adding new sprites (graphics) to our game creation classes. We’ll continue to set up programs specifically for Girl Scout groups and participate in National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) meetings related to involving girls in grades K-12 in technology. We’re committed to making sure that the girls that are involved in our programs have a positive experience with us, and we’re always open to customer suggestions on this topic.

Want Bits, Bytes & Bots classes at your child’s school in the fall?
Contact us now to help schedule after school classes at your child’s school in the 2007-2008 school year. We give a 15% off parent discount for helping us set up the first ever Bits, Bytes & Bots after school class at a school! We just need classroom space and a way to promote classes to students. We provide the flyers to advertise the class, and students can register online. Do we want to link to our principal flyer for BVSD and St. Vrain?

A word about summer camp wait lists…
There is no charge to join one of our camp class wait lists, and we often are able to place students from wait lists into camp classes. You can even sign your child up for a wait list for one week and enroll him/her in the same class on a different week. If space becomes available in the preferred week, we’ll transfer your child from one class to the other for no charge.

Camp Information & Class Descriptions
Boulder 2007 Summer Camp Schedule
Longmont 2007 Summer Camp Schedule
Denver South 2007 Summer Camp Schedule

Website of the month
NASA Kids Site.

NASA has built a website for kids of all ages that makes a lot of neat noises and includes games, art & stories, activities, and a kid’s club. Their goal is to provide resources that are safe, fun, and educational. Our favorite was the picture switcher puzzle – the hard setting is for puzzle specialists only! For something easier, we really liked the memory game. Check it out!

Seasonal News
May is National Salsa Month, so why not introduce your kids to a new Mexican dish?

www.elmonterey.com has some great kids recipes for Mexican food. Here’s one to try:

Quesadilla Pizza Stacks for Kids

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 10 mins
Tonight, let the kids make dinner! It’s fun and easy with this Mexican-style pizza.

Ingredients:
8 El Monterey Chicken Cheese Quesadillas
12 oz. can Refried beans
1 cup Salsa
2 cups Mixed Cheddar and Jack Cheese
1 cup Guacamole
1 cup Sour Cream
As needed Black Olives sliced
As needed Green onions chopped

Directions:

“With the help of Mom or Dad”
1. Thaw out El Monterey Chicken Cheese Quesadillas.
2. Arrange all other ingredients in small bowls easy for little hands to spread and grab.
3. Place two quesadillas on a microwave safe plate and spread refried beans first then salsa, and then mixed cheese.
4. Ask Mom or Dad to help out with the microwave settings and cook according to directions on the package.
5. Once quesadillas are melted carefully top them with remaining ingredients and more cheese if you want. Cut in half and enjoy your personalized quesadilla pizza stack.

Chef’s Tips
* Substitute Chile con Carne for the refried beans.
* Substitute Pizza sauce or Italian pasta sauce for the salsa.
* Substitute mozzarella for the jack cheese.