FIRST® LEGO® League teams sponsored by AEDC STEM place in regional championships

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Six of the 24 FIRST® LEGO® League teams sponsored by the AEDC Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Outreach Program placed in their division at the East Tennessee FIRST® LEGO® League Championships.

At the East Tennessee Championship competition held at Tennessee Tech University in February, the REL Lego Lions from Homer Pittard Campus School in Murfreesboro placed second in Gracious Professionalism and the Red Robo Raiders from Coffee County Middle School in Manchester placed third in the same category. The Black Robo Raiders, also from Coffee County Middle School in Manchester placed third in the FLL Inspiration category.

FLL teams, which are made up of students and guided by adult coaches, research a real-world problem such as food safety, recycling or energy, and are challenged to develop a solution and present their results. They also must design, build and program a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology, then compete on a table-top playing field.

Placing first in Research were the Tree Climbing Fish from Liberty Elementary School in Shelbyville, with the Central Tigers from Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro placing second in that category. First place winners in Presentation was Team Legotronics from Harris Middle School in Shelbyville.

Jere Matty, AEDC STEM Outreach Program coordinator, congratulates each of these teams on their wins and for all the hard work and practice that led them this far in the competition.

“This year’s FLL theme, Animal Allies, focused on how we can work together with animals of all types to make life better for both us and them,” he said. “All 24 teams that we sponsor did an outstanding job on this topic and we couldn’t be prouder of these young folks who went on to excel at the East Tennessee Regional Championships.”

A goal of FLL is to introduce younger students to real-world engineering challenges, and through their participation in the league, youth are able to build teamwork skills and learn about exciting career possibilities.

All FLL teams follow the program’s Core Values or CVs:
· We are a team
· We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors
· We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together
· We honor the spirit of friendly competition
· What we discover is more important than what we win
· We share our experiences with others
· We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do
· We have fun!