The Willow Glen High School Robotics Team won a trophy and silver medals for each of its seven members when the team's robot, RAMBO IV, took second place in the Sacramento regional division of the USFIRST Robotics Competition March 7 and 8.

USFIRST is the name of a national high school robotics competition. RAMBO IV's performance included timed relay events that involved moving stacks of bins to a particular location and being "king of the hill" at the end of a match by being the only robot standing on the bins platform.

During qualifying rounds on the first day, RAMBO IV impressed the other competitors enough to form a three-team alliance. The robots designed by Granada Hills High School of Los Angeles and Bellarmine College Preparatory teamed with Willow Glen High School's RAMBO IV, which culminated in the second-place victory.

Lacking a corporate or major private sponsor, members of the 4-year-old Willow Glen High School team worked hard to raise funds for the robot competition. The team credits the Willow Glen Middle School and High School Foundation, the Elks Club, the San Jose Unified School District and the high school with providing financial assistance.

RAMBO IV, a 130-pound, cube-shaped apparatus, is now eligible to compete at USFIRST's final competition, to be held at the San José State University Events Center March 28 and 29. The alliance with Granada Hills and Bellarmine has been dissolved, and new alliances will need to be formed in the final competition.

For more information on the robotics team, call Mark Selden of Willow Glen High School at 408.535.6330.


Valley Christian opens campus at new location

After relocating twice, Valley Christian Elementary School has found a permanent home on Leigh Avenue near Hamilton Avenue.

The two-story building next to Trinity Lutheran Church features classrooms capable of accommodating Internet connections and state-of-the-art computers.

The school currently enrolls about 400 students but can accommodate up to 450, according to Shirley Hitchcock, the school's vice principal.

News of the school opening on Leigh Avenue raised concerns about traffic issues with nearby residents, one of whom addressed the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association at its meeting in January.

When the school opened on Feb. 27, the San Jose Police Department posted traffic officers to direct traffic the first day as parents dropped off and picked up their children. But Hitchcock and Linda Skovmand, the school's director of public relations, say they've heard no complaints.

The school is adopting several traffic-calming measures. Children are not to be picked up until 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday or until 2 p.m. on Fridays. Parents are being asked not to jaywalk across Leigh Avenue to get to the school, and drivers are advised that if the school's driveway is full they should make a U-turn at the nearby stoplight to avoid congesting the street.

For more information about Valley Christian Schools, 100 Skyway Drive, call 408.513.2590 or visit www.valley christian.net.


Nonprofit distributes dictionaries to youth

Representatives from the nonprofit, Oakland-based California Dictionary Project visited Gardner Academy March 14 to hand out paperback dictionaries to the school's third-graders as part of the organization's mission to distribute dictionaries to third-grade classes in every California school district.

Representatives from the organization, Superintendent Linda Murray, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Assembly members Rebecca Cohn and Manny Diaz, and San Jose District 9 City Council member Judy Chirco were on hand for the kickoff, which included the donation of up to 4,000 English or Spanish/English paperback dictionaries to the San Jose Unified School District.

The organization anticipates distributing dictionaries to 30 elementary schools, including 171 third-grade classes within the San Jose Unified School District.

"We decided that third grade was the age when it's best to reach kids because they're at that reading level where a dictionary could make the most impact," said California Dictionary Project member Jevon Fark.

The California Dictionary Project is comprised of professionals from the legal, technological and financial fields who came together after reading a Wall Street Journal profile of a South Carolina woman who began a charity organization to buy dictionaries for third-graders.

For more information about the California Dictionary Project, contact Mark Robinson at 510.923.9678.