Mabuhay!

On behalf of Governor Linda Lingle, we wanted to make sure you saw the attached articles featuring a student robotics team from the Philippines that will compete in the 2009 FIRST in Hawai‘i Regional Robotics Competition at the University of Hawai‘i Stan Sheriff Center, March 26 – 28, 2009.

The team from the Philippine Science High School, also known as "Philippine Team Lagablab," will be among 34 teams from Hawai‘i, the U.S. mainland, the Philippines and Mexico who will compete in what is called the "varsity sport of the mind."

The Lingle-Aiona Administration supports student robotics as part of the Hawai‘i Innovation Initiative because it provides students with a strong educational foundation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and offers them opportunities to solve problems, work as teams and think analytically – skills useful in any career.

We hope you will help inform the Filipino community (your members, employees, colleagues, family members, friends, etc.) about the FIRST in Hawai‘i Regional Robotics Competition where they can cheer on Philippine Team Lagablab and the other 33 student teams. The event is free and open to the public.

Over the next few weeks we will be sending out additional information. You can also visit www.robotics.hawaii.gov/first for an overview of this year’s robotics competition.

For comments or questions, please call me at 808-586-0783 or email eric.barsatan@hawaii.gov.

Thank you,

Eric Caceres Barsatan