On February 16, 2008, was Team 359’s eighth annual open-house, and it was our most successful yet.  Numerous dignitaries, sponsors and supporters attended the event, some of which include Senator Norman Sakamoto, Representative Michael Magaoay, City Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz, Hawaii Department of Education Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto and Russell Rigueiroa from RM Towill.  The team showed up early to do final preparations, such as hanging up our banners and doing run-throughs of the tour.

The open-house commenced at 4p.m., and Mikia and I were the emcees for the event. First our team captain, Cody Smith, said a few words of welcome, and then we showed the game video to explain this year’s objectives.  Next we divided everyone into four groups and gave them tours of four rooms crucial to the robotics program: the documentation room, the auto shop, the woodshop and the robotics room. Students in each room had seven-minute presentations prepared for the tour groups. Once everyone returned to the cafeteria, we showed our open house video.  It was a hit with the crowd and perfectly demonstrated the commitment and personality our team showed over the past six weeks. Our finale was our first public demonstration of this year’s robot, and then everyone stayed to eat and mingle.

From the comments we received, it seems that Team 359 has pulled together another engaging and informative event.  Our open house has allowed us to once again showcase the learning opportunities robotics has brought to our school and to give our appreciation to those who have continued to support us. Mahalo to all those who came and see you again next year!