BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY February 17, 2019 6
A new law passed by the
New York State Legislature
which Governor Cuomo supports,
“The Child Victims Act,”
will allow victims of childhood
sexual abuse to recover damages
in a court of law. The bill
extends the civil statute of limitations
to allow civil actions to
be brought until a victim’s 55th
birthday for child sexual abuse
which occurred before age 18. A
one year window has been created
for adult survivors to commence
civil actions for damages
which under current law are
barred because of the statute of
limitations. This one year window
will begin six months after
the law takes effect so victims
up until their 55th birthday can
bring civil lawsuits against individuals
or public and private
institutions from churches to
public school districts for child
sexual abuse that they may have
suffered many decades ago. The
Legislature also removes the
current Notice of Claim requirements
for public entities in cases
involving child sexual abuse
so a Notice of Intention to make
claim against municipalities
within 90 days is not required
in order to bring a lawsuit.
Sexual abuse against a child
is a shameful unforgivable act.
It is a traumatizing experience
that can take a lifetime to come
to terms with. While this new
law cannot erase what happened
to victims, it will give victims
an opportunity to recover damages
in a Court of Law for what
happened to them.
While the one year window
to bring a legal action will not
begin until 6 months after the
law takes effect victims should
consult an attorney as soon as
possible to begin the painful
and arduous task of their gathering
medical records and other
evidence of their victimization.
St. Theresa Robotics team. Photo courtesy of St. Theresa School
St. Theresa School robotics
teams earn excellent grades
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A Pelham Bay school has
a robotics program in its junior
high that is attracting
attention and winning high
marks at competitions.
St. Theresa’s School’s
two robotics teams, one each
in its seventh and eighth
grades, recently scored very
well in a local qualifi er of an
international robotics competition
called the FIRST
LEGO League.
FLL uses robots, attachments
and Legos to teach elementary
and middle schoolchildren
programming and
coding as they complete ‘missions’
with the robots they
build. It is an international
competition.
St. Theresa’s seventh
grade team came in third
out of 33 teams from local
schools, and their eight graders
took home top honors in
competition with ten teams,
said Diane Fitzgerald, a St.
Theresa Science teacher who
moderates the Robotics club.
Both grades qualifi ed for
a city championship competition
being held at CUNY City
College on Saturday, March
16 and Sunday, March 17, said
Fitzgerald.
“We are the only Catholic
elementary school in the
Bronx that has a robotics
team in competition,” said
Fitzgerald, adding that the
school itself may be the only
borough Catholic school with
a robotics program.
Fitzgerald attributes the
success of the two teams to
their research skills and
teamwork, as well as their
dedication.
“They stay after school almost
every day until 5:30 p.m.
They are very dedicated,”
said Fitzgerald, adding that
the youth event came into
school to work on their robotics
during their vacation during
the holidays.
Josephine Fanelli, St.
Theresa School principal,
said that the fi rst robotics
team formed at the school
two years ago after the school
partnered with an organization
that funded a grant to
teach the children robotics as
part of their STEM (science,
technology, engineering and
mathematics) education.
The school partnered
with Karen Kaun of Makeosity,
a company that creates
STEM and art curriculum
for youth.
Kaun noticed that the
children had an affi nity for
robotics, said Fanelli.
The school’s robotics
learning began when the its
current eighth graders were
in the sixth grade, said the
principal.
“In the summer the kids
worked with Mrs. Fitzgerald
and Dr. Kaun, and in the
seventh grade they began to
compete in competitions,”
said Fanelli. “They basically
have to make machinery and
robots and they have to plan
out missions – the plots they
have to take (and the tasks).”
FLL requires students to
run small robots, about the
size of a brick (known in FLL
as an ‘intelligent brick’), over
a map and to program their
robots to interact and manipulate
objects on the map
for two and a half minutes at
a time, said Kaun.
“St. Theresa has been killing
it this year,” said Kaun,
adding that the judges were
impressed with the seventh
grade team’s robot design
and the eighth grade’s ‘core
value’ of team work.
The St. Theresa Robotics team works on one of their projects. Photo courtesy of St. Theresa School
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