Four Washington STEM Academy robotics teams will advance to the First® Lego® League Grace Qualifying Tournament Nov. 16, but the school had to first narrow down the number of teams from seven. Winners of the Nov. 16 contest at Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, Grace College, Winona Lake, qualify for state. In order to eliminate some of the teams, Washington held its own First® Lego® League World Class: Learning Unleashed robotics competition Thursday evening in the school gym. Family and friends were invited to attend to hear the student teams’ presentations and watch the demonstrations of their robots. The fourth- through sixth-graders have been working on their presentations and robots all month, according to Ben Barkey, science, technology, engineering and math coach. Teachers Credit Union is sponsoring Washington’s robotics. “Tonight we’re doing our first Lego robotics presentation with fourth through sixth grades,” Principal Tom Ray told the event’s attendees. Barkey thanked TCU, saying, “without them none of this is possible,” and also thanked the coaches that came in every evening to help students on the projects. At least three coaches came in every night from 4 to 5:30 p.m., up to five nights a week. He thanked parents for their understanding and efforts. He explained that the students this year had an “advanced knowledge base” about robotics because as second- and third-graders they participated in the Junior FIRST® Lego® League and used Lego WeDo robotics. TCU also sponsored the junior version. “It’s like running a small business because it’s not just about robotics,” Barkey said. Every year the theme for the robotics competition changes. Last year the theme was natural disasters, and this year the theme is “World Class: Unleashing the Knowledge.” Barkey explained the teams of fourth- and sixth-graders had to identify a topic that is difficult for someone to learn. They then identified a group of people who would want to learn about that topic. They identified what the problem is, did research and came up with a solution of how they would want to learn about the topic. Some of the students dabbled in innovative creative solutions, Barkey said. Some teams reached out to experts in the field they were researching. There’s also the robotic competition board which has 15 mission models on it. Each one represents a type of learning, Barkey said, like apprenticeships. To help narrow the Washington teams down from seven to four, Barkey explained there were judges at last night’s competition, including a couple from TCU. Following the competition last night, students will have another month to prepare before facing competition from other schools. Barkey said Washington will have the most teams among competing school. Teams are judged on teamwork, the project, the robot game and design. The hard part was deviating the work load for the students, Barkey said. Some students researched,while others worked on engineering, design and programming. Valerie Hutton, a parent of a sixth-grader, said last night’s event was a good experience for the students. It teaches them a lot of things like teamwork and problem-solving skills. She said it’s a great activity for them. “I think it’s fun. With any project, it has its frustrations, but overall it is fun,” she said. More information on the competition can be found at http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2014fllworldclass
