PV High Robotics Team goes deep for the oceans
The Palos Verdes High School Underwater Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) robotics team has participated for the past 13 years in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) regional competition. It has also participated in the International World Championship eight times, and in six of those competitions finished in the top five. This year the focus is on the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The team has been working since last September, designing, building, and testing a new tethered ROV. In addition to the robot’s underwater performance, the team will be judged on the strength of its 25-page technical report, marketing proposal, and oral presentation. The team is sponsored by the Palos Verdes High School Booster Club and the Peninsula Education Foundation.
“World’s first musical”
The Broadway hit “Something Rotten” was presented by the Palos Verdes High School Drama Department for seven performances in April. The musical farce tells the story of playwright brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom who are under the shadow of a Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” After a soothsayer tells them the future of theater is in singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, the brothers set out to write the world’s first musical. “Something rotten” has been praised as “the funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years.”
The goats are grazing
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy deployed 300 goats near the Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall in April to remove fennel, ice plant and other non-native plants. Clearing the invasive plants makes way for native plants to grow. The goats are economical, environmentally friendly, make little noise and leave no trash behind. (Their droppings are a natural fertilizer). The goats have been helping the Conservancy clear invasive plants since 2009. The goats can clear an entire acre in a single day, versus three days required of a work crew.
