Thanks to correspondence on Facebook with the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Daniel Hershkovitz, Yehud students received financial assistance from the Ministry of Science and Technology for a trip to a robotics competition. They came back with prizes
Seven of the 17,000th-XNUMXth grade students in Yehud, the winners of the Israel Robotics Championship, did not know until the last minute whether they would be able to participate in the world championship held this week in the USA, due to the high costs. Thanks to correspondence on Facebook with the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, they received financial assistance from the Ministry of Science and Technology. Yesterday they returned to Israel with an amazing achievement: second place in "polite professionalism" and third place in "robot performance" - among XNUMX teams from all over the world.
Six teams of high school students and two teams of middle schools represented Israel in the world competition of the FIRST robotics organization that took place this week in St. Louis, USA. The participation of some of the students was questionable, because a large part of their parents cannot afford the high expenses involved in traveling to the USA, and the Ministry of Education refused to participate in the costs. However, correspondence on Facebook between Avi Ostfeld Mihud, whose son participated in the competition, and the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, eventually led to significant financial assistance for the members of the delegation, and the investment did pay off. One of the groups, which included seven students from a middle school in Yehud, was ranked in the first places in the world. Last night they came to the office of the Minister of Science and Technology and asked to thank him for the support.
Minister Hershkowitz told the students that he was proud of them: "Napoleon said that every soldier carries the general's baton in his backpack, and each of you has the potential to become a great scientist. You touched and found - and you brought great pride to the country. You demonstrated technological performance that would not embarrass professional engineers. Israel's special advantage is in its human capital, and in order to preserve our global status as a science and technology powerhouse, we must encourage and support young scientists."
The field of robotics has gained popularity among Israeli students in recent years. At the end of the month, the Minister of Science and Technology will host the National Robotics Olympiad at the Technion, intended for elementary school children starting from first grade. In the first stages of the competition, over 4000 children participating in YTEK's excellence course participated, and only about 100 children reached the final stage.
