KUNM Children's Hour

Tune in to KUNM this Saturday morning to hear some of The Syntax Errors talk about World's and robotics on KUNM's Children's Hour! The show runs from 9-10 and more info about the program can be found here.

Basking in the Glow

If it seems too quiet here at the blog, that's because we've taken a short hiatus while we basked in the glow of REACHING OUR INITIAL FUNDRAISING GOAL!!

To date we have raised $11,400 which will go to sending our team to Anaheim in less than a week. We could not have done it without all of the funds donated through this blog. Thank you.

If you are visiting us for the first time and are interested in donating, please do! Any funds which are not spent on our trip will go towards building our program next year. This year's program was started entirely with grant money which will not be available next year. I have a feeling that our numbers will swell given the success in our first year and would be great to have the resources to support the students.

While we are in Ahaheim we will blog daily, so stay tuned April 17-21 as we take on the World Championship!

~The Syntax Errors

Warm Fuzzies

Last night the Mountain Mahogany Community School shone with their support for our students and our fundraising efforts. Photos will be posted later, but we wanted to be sure we thanked everyone for helping us raise over $1500!

A huge thank you to Mr. Seth for organizing the entertainment, Debra for getting the food piece in order, Cathy for getting the word out through the Leaflet, Brian and Alex for staffing the 'bot drives, Socorro for handling the money, the Syntax Errors for representing the team and to everyone else who supported the event. We are oh so grateful!

The official fundraising tally will be posted this weekend--check back tosee if we met our goal!

~The Syntax Errors

Fundraising Update

To the fans of the Syntax Errors:

We have broken the $6000 mark! As of yesterday we raised just over $6500 and today we were able to add more than $300 more to our total--$230 of which was from Hexbug sales alone! I love how our school (and extended) community is coming together to support these amazing kids.

If you ordered a Hexbug Ant, don't worry, they are on "backorder" and we should have them tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks so much!
~The Syntax Errors

Selling Like Hotcakes!

The school support for the Hexbug fundraiser has been absolutely astounding! We raised about $400 over the last few days, enough to send another student to Anaheim!

Thanks MMCS for supporting our team through this fundraiser!
~The Syntax Errors

Variety Show Fundraiser

Image from pixelgirlpresents.com

This Friday, April 5 from 5-8pm our school is hosting a variety show fundraiser for the Syntax Errors.

Students, families and community members will sing, dance, act, and otherwise entertain us through the evening.

$5 per family is our suggested donation. Hexbugs will be for sale ($7 for the Nano and $12 for the Ant), and robot drives will be $1.

We hope you can join us for an excellent evening showcasing our local talent.
~The Syntax Errors

In the Media

Katie at KUNM Children's Hour put in a word for us yesterday. Thanks, Katie!

Geoff at the Alibi also posted about us on their blog.

We are so grateful for the support from the greater Albuquerque community and if any of you know of other media that would be interested in getting the word out, please leave a comment so we can get in touch.

~The Syntax Errors

Bake Sale UPDATE

Today at the bake sale we raised $254!! That's a whole lot of muffins, cookies and robot drives. A HUGE Thank You to everyone who supported this event-from the delicious food to the organizing to those of you in the community who purchased these treats. We had so many items to sell that they were distributed amongst the team members to sell around town this weekend. Keep an eye out for Syntax Errors at your local park or dog park and pick up a sweet treat this afternoon.

Sevilla Explaining the 'bot to a Happy Customer

Something for Everyone

Bake Sale TODAY!

Borrowed from the Village Voice blog

From 9:30-1:00 at the SW corner of Altura Park (near Carlisle between Indian School & Constitution) we are holding a bake sale to raise funds for Anaheim. Last night many Syntax Errors and their families were baking away. I, for one, will be there with coconut bread and my signature grapefruit cake. Come by for a treat, a coffee, a chat and to pick up a Hexbug Nano--just $7! Hope to see you there on this gorgeous Saturday.

 ~The Syntax Errors
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Kickball for Robots

Our school community is really banding together to support our trip to Anaheim. The Hexbug fundraiser has been an incredible success so far and classrooms are finding unique ways to raise money.

Ms. Conna's 5th grade class is playing kickball to raise funds for our trip, too. For every point they score Ms. Conna will pay $.50. They have had two rousing games of kickball so far and from what I hear, those 5th graders really know how to score some points!

Thanks for supporting the team, 5th grade!
~The Syntax Errors

On the Air

KQRE/KASA were on campus today filming and interviewing the team which was very exciting! We did not make it on tonight's news but may be on the air tomorrow morning for the am news on Channel 13 (KRQE). We are also scheduled to be on NM Style on Channel 2 (KASA) which airs from 8-9am. James the editor/camera operator was glad to be a part of such a positive story.

Tune in and see us in action!

In other news, check out the practice field! SiaTech High School is letting us borrow half of a playing field so we can practice in a more accurate environment. Up until today we have been using a wooden perimeter and chalking in the scoring troughs. Now we have regulation bean-bags and scoring areas that meet the Sack Attack regulations. We are so grateful for this support from a fellow robotics program.

Update: We did not air on New Mexico Style this morning, but were part of the early morning news. Here's a link.