Students compete in Lego robotics regional competition

By kate hill Staff writer

On Feb. 18, a group of Cazenovia Middle School students competed in the First Lego League (FLL) Finger Lakes Regional Competition in Buffalo.

FLL is a guided, global robotics program aimed at inspiring youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning and robotics.

“The [FLL] program challenges teams of students to design, build, and program autonomous robots using Lego robotics kits to complete a set of missions on a playing field,” explained Middle School Librarian Deborah McHugh, who has advised Cazenovia’s Lego League club since its formation during the 2021-22 school year. “The teams also conduct research on a real-world problem related to the year’s theme — renewable energy [this year] — and develop an innovative solution using science and technology.”

McHugh added that the program encourages the development of important life skills such as teamwork, communication, and critical thinking. It also helps build STEM skills, promotes creativity, and builds confidence.

This season’s Lego League team consisted of the following 15 students ages 10-14: Jayce Hyatt, Nolan Campagna, Jacob Burch, Nora Berg, Kallie D’Mello, Connor Woodcock, Charlie McGraw, Audrey Henry, James Dougherty, Sam Bouffard, Phoebe Maggio, Eddie Hollman, Emma Palmer, Oliver Revette and Tyler Pratt.

According to McHugh, 11 of the team members were available to participate in the regional competition, which brought together a total of 42 teams of students ages 8-14.

The multi-part competition was judged based on a robot game, an innovation project, a team interview, and demonstrated “core values.”

“FLL does not provide an overall ranking for teams, so we don’t know how we did [except for] the robot game where we placed eighth with a score of 220,” said McHugh. “This was an increase of 50 points over our robot game at the qualifier on Jan. 21.”

To qualify for the regional competition in Buffalo, Cazenovia’s Lego League team had to put their skills to the test at the second annual First Lego League competition on Jan. 21 at Pine Grove Middle School in the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District. The local competition was organized through the Model Schools team at OCM BOCES, which supports districts in their use of instructional technology.

According to the OCM BOCES website, the “Super Powered” event challenged students to design, build, and code a robot that could improve how renewable energy is stored and distributed within the community.

Teams from several local elementary and middle schools built their robots in advance of the competition. At the event, each robot had to complete a series of missions called “energy journeys.” A robot earned points based on how it collected and delivered energy to and from various sources during each journey. Robots had to push, pull, and lift or perform a combination of those movements. Judges evaluated the robots and the research behind each project. Each team also spent time explaining their project during the presentation portion of the event.

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Only five of the 15 participating teams qualified for the regional competition in Buffalo. In addition to qualifying, Cazenovia’s team also received the “Motivate Award,” awarded to “A team that embraces the culture of First Lego League through team building, team spirit, and displayed enthusiasm.”

To learn more about First Lego League, visit firstlegoleague.org.

NOTICE - Parents of students attending Non Public School

Pursuant to Section 3635 Education Law:

Residents of the Cazenovia Central School District - it is necessary to request transportation to NON PUBLIC SCHOOLS each school year. The request is to be in writing by April 1, 2023, to the Cazenovia Central School District, for the 2023-2024 school year.

The request must include the full name of the student, the residence address, including street or road name and house number, date of birth of the student, grade level of the student, name of the school to which attendance is requested. Most non public schools provide forms for this purpose.

Requests should be mailed directly to the Cazenovia Central School District, Transportation Department, 31 Emory Avenue, Cazenovia, NY 13035 post marked by April 1, 2023.

Cazenovia Central School District

Karen Cowherd

Transportation Supervisor

Email: kcowherd@caz.cnyric.org

Phone: 315-655-1326 Fax: 315-655-1368