ALL GIRLS ROBOTICS TEAM QUALIFIES FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

KAYSVILLE— Four elementary girls from Kaysville, Utah, are proving that robotics and STEM fields are no longer boys-only. Their team, The Golden Roses, is made up of Ruby (6th grade), Ellie, Aylin (5th grade), and Emma (4th grade). These outstanding young women participated in the VEX World Championship in Dallas, Texas, April 25 – May 4. It is the largest robotics competition in the world, and holds competitions for grades 4 -12 from 50 counties.

“I was in the middle of P.E. [when they found out they qualified], and I just started running around the track yelling,” said Ruby.

“During spring break, we actually did a four-hour practice [for the World Championship],” said Ellie. “We were trying to improve the shooting mechanism.”

Each year the VEX Robotics program releases a new task for the various competitions, which teams will work on throughout the school year. The game for the 2022- 2023 school year is called Slap Shot, a teamwork-based competition that requires two teams to work together to gain points. Teams also compete in Robot Skills Challenge, based on Driving Skills and Programming Skills.

“We got here because of our driving and autonomous skills and coding,” said Aylin, the team leader of the Golden Roses. “We’re trying to improve everything.”

The Golden Roses are divided into coders Ruby and Emma and drivers Aylin and Ellie. For the success of the robot, the four of them have had to work together over the course of the school year. They qualified for Worlds due to their accumulated skills points. The girls and their parents spoke of the importance of teamwork and communication between members.

“You can do anything if you have a good team,” said Ruby.

“This is a really interesting, multi-discipline activity,” said Blake Winslow, Ellie’s father. “For an entire school year, these four ladies have worked together on this project. We’re just really proud of them.”

Due to their hard work and perseverance, The Golden Roses is the first all-girls team to qualify for the VEX World Championship in the area, but their work wasn’t done yet. Due to Davis School District’s policy to no longer financially support interstate travel for elementary students, it was up to The Golden Roses and their families to find a way to the Championship. The team started a GoFundMe and even sold handmade soap to raise funds.

“We went to my grandma and grandpa’s house and made soap,” said Ellie. “It smelled like roses.”

By Megan Gleason | m.gleason@mycityjournals.com

You have until May 31 to cast your vote to help Kaysville fill this specialty niche.

Lindsey Jackson, wife of City Councilmember Nate Jackson, is a local Kaysville resident who wants to be involved in her community. She loves Trader Joe’s, but the four Utah locations are far away and inconvenient, Jackson said. “The Trader Joe’s model would fit our hometown culture and would be fabulous for jobs, sales tax revenues, and to revitalize a previously tired commercial area for our city.”

Jackson said Provo and Orem conducted a competition to lure a Trader Joe’s and it really became a community grass roots effort. She said Orem was successful in enticing Trader Joe’s to come to their city and she is hoping for the same result for Kaysville. She said Kaysville and its surrounding areas meet the desired demographic relative to income levels and size of neighboring communities. Jackson

The Golden Roses all plan on continuing their love of robotics and joining the club next school year. Despite all of them planning on going to different junior high schools, the girls plan to be a part of the same team again.

“We’re all going to do robotics in high school ‘cause we’re all going to Davis High School,” said Ruby. “We won’t forget each other.”

As well as qualifying for the World Championship, The Golden Roses have also won two awards in their local and

By Cindi Mansell | c.mansell@mycityjournals.com

has been talking to property owners to do something great in the former Bennion Crafts Building at 354 North Main Street. She said Trader Joe’s has requirements such as utilizing existing commercial space (the company does not build new), 12,000 square feet of parking, and longterm leasing (they do not purchase the properties). Jackson said property owner, Michael Romney, has done research to determine what Trader Joe’s would want and has worked closely with the company broker.

Mayor Tamara Tran and Jackson have been working together on this for some time once they heard the company was searching for a Davis County location. She said the proposed location is centrally located directly off I-15 and Main Street and within a 10-mile radius of larger communities such as Farmington and Layton. It is state competitions: the Judges Award for their proficiency in interview skills and the Design Award for the design of their robot. Their excitement and love for science and technology go beyond an after-school club. The skills and relationships they’ve built through robotics are valued experiences they will carry with them forever, and they encourage other girls to join STEM fields as well.

“If you like science, do it,” said Emma.

“It’s not just for boys,” said Ruby. l

5K Recovery Run

Saturday, May 13

March 15-21

Registration 8 a.m., race starts at 9 a.m.

Fee $25, includes a medal, T-shirt, bib and swag bag

All proceeds support programs and basic needs for students at Red Barn

Academy Red Barn Academy, 1200 Red Barn Ln., Farmington

Color a Mural

Monday, May 15, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Headquarters Library, 133 S. Main St.,

Farmington

Bountiful’s Got Talent Auditions

Wednesday, May 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 20, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Call for audition time: 801-797-9386

Joy Foundation Studio, 55 N. Main St.,

Bountiful

Davis Chamber Annual Mayors’

Luncheon

Thursday, May 18, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Members $25/Guests $35

Meet the Davis County Mayors Davis Technical College, Allied Health Building

435 S. Simmons Way, Kaysville

Meet NASA Astronaut Duane

“Digger” Carey

Thursday, May 18, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Clearfield Branch Library, 1 N. Main Street

Davis County Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony

Thursday, May 18, 7 p.m.

Davis County Sheriff’s Office, 800 W. State St., Farmington

Great Salt Lake Bird Festival

May 18-21, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Eccles Wildlife Education Center 1157 S. Waterfowl Way, Farmington

Ogden Spring Home Show

Friday, May 19: Noon-8 p.m.

Saturday, May 20: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Sunday, May 21: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Golden Spike Event Center, 1000 N. 1200 West, Ogden

Layton Family Game Night

Friday, May 19, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Ed Kenley Amphitheater Layton Commons Park, 465 N. Wasatch Drive

Community Bed Build with Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Build beds for kids who don’t have one Syracuse City Hall, 1979 W. 1900 South

Radiate Vendor Market

Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Shopping, food trucks, prizes and more 1060 W. 300 North, Clearfield

Send event info to peri.k@davisjournal. com for inclusion in the Davis Journal community calendar.

Teen given new scooter to replace one that was stolen

Bountiful Police Officers Keith and Joubert presented a new scooter from an anonymous donor to a young man whose scooter was stolen from a gas station recently. “We were going to ride it up to the house, but Officer Keith said when he was a kid he would have been excited to put it together himself,” said a BPD Facebook post. “So, we left it boxed. The anonymous donor had one request, and I’m paraphrasing… just let him know not all people are bad.”

Man and woman suspected of theft

Bountiful Police Officer Scoffield is looking for help to identify these two suspects in a theft. Please call 801-2986000, with any information and reference case 230001172.

North Salt Lake Zions Bank robbed

The North Salt Lake City Police Department is asking for the public’s help to identify and locate the suspect in a robbery of Zions Bank last week.

At approximately 2:40 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, an armed suspect entered the Zions Bank branch at 870 N. Hwy 89 North Salt Lake, displayed a handgun and demanded money from the tellers. The suspect took the money and fled the scene southbound, according to a North Salt Lake Police Facebook post.

Suspect description

• white male adult • wearing a blue jacket, khaki pants, black shoes, gloves and a face mask. If the public has any information regarding this suspect or the case, please contact the North Salt Lake Police Department at 801-298-6000.

Firefighters stop for a glass of lemonade

With warm weather out come the lemonade stands. Farmington Firefighters Peck and Probert stopped by Matilda’s lemonade stand on 250 South for a refreshing glass of lemonade, a FFD Facebook post said. “If you’d like a KFD crew to stop by your child’s lemonade stand, call our admin line at 801-5442860 or our non-emergency dispatch at 801-451-4150, Option 0.”

DCSO honors memory of officers who lost their lives

The Davis County Sheriff’s Office would like to invite the public to a Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony to honor those brave Davis County officers who lost their lives protecting the community they served.

The program will be held May 18 at 7 p.m. at the Davis County Sheriff’s Office, 800 W. State Street.

Those to be remembered include:

• Deputy Donald Perry Jensen –Davis County Sheriff’s Office

• Trooper George Dee Rees – Utah Highway Patrol

• Lt. Thomas Sumner Rettberg –Utah Highway Patrol

• Officer Charles B. Skinner – North Salt Lake Police Department