FIRST LEGO League teams compete at regional | Schools

Henderson County and Union County elementary and middle schools competed in their first-ever FIRST LEGO League team competition held at Owensboro Community and Technology College over the weekend.

The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. LEGO League teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society.

Elementary and middle-school students in grades 4-8 get to design, build, test and program robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS technology. Throughout the process they learn to apply real-world math and science concepts, research challenges facing today’s scientists, participate in tournaments and celebrations and learn critical thinking, team-building and presentation skills.

Owensboro Community and Technical College has supported the FIRST LEGO League in Daviess County for five years and decided to expand to other counties through its sister Kentucky Community and Technical College campuses. Owensboro Community and Technical College initiated the expansion of the program through an Advanced Technological Education grant from the National Science Foundation that focused on sharing best practices in recruiting and retaining youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Henderson Community College has committed to be involved in the grant which will include STEM clubs, summer academies, robotics competitions and professional development opportunities for K-12 students and teachers. These efforts are designed to encourage youth, particularly underrepresented groups, to pursue education, training and careers in STEM areas of demand in Kentucky and the nation.

Each year, a project theme is selected. Teams conduct research, identify problems, and present solutions to problems based on the theme. The theme for this year’s competition was Senior Challenge. Student teams presented their research project at the regional competition held at Owensboro Community and Technical College. Teams from South Heights Elementary, North Middle School, St. Ann’s Interparochial school, South Middle School, A.B. Chandler Elementary School, and Holy Name School participated.