St. Joseph Robotics Team Heading to State Tournament
St. Joe’s First LEGO League (FLL) 7th-grade robotics team competed at the sectional tournament in St. Paul on January 12 and advanced to the state competition, to be held on February 22. In addition to posting the second-highest robot performance score in their division, the team received a prestigious Judges Award for “coopertition” which recognized the team’s display of competitive spirit, willingness to collaborate with other teams, and good sportsmanship throughout the competition.
The team has been working together since August. Building a robot that can complete a series of tasks is just one component of FLL competitions. Each team is charged with identifying a problem in its own community and worked to solve it. St. Joe’s team proposed a dog park for Waconia and students have been researching and talking to various professionals and elected officials to learn how to make a dog park a reality for our community. During the competition, the team presented their ideas for the dog park to the judges. The team also participated in interviews with judges regarding Core Values and Robot Programming/Design.
Six hundred-sixty robotics teams throughout Minnesota entered regional tournaments in December, 10% of which progressed to the state level. Three teams will advance to represent Minnesota in the national competition.
Caption/Photo:
St. Joe’s RoboSaints Skyscrapers display their Judges Award trophy following the Sectional Competition in St. Paul. Front: Gavin Radel, Charlie Garlets, Nate Hamilton
Back: Judy Kohrman, Unity Kelly, Emma James, Jack Willenbring, Ariana Radel, Isabelle Moyer
