Fifteen teams in the FIRST® LEGO League Wisconsin Qualifying Tournament vied for five awards at the MATC Milwaukee campus Saturday, Nov. 15.  The competition pitted teams of science and technology-minded youngsters, grades 4 through 8 (ages 9 to 14), against each other in identifying a problem, researching and developing a solution in a mentored, team-based environment.  Additionally, each team built and programmed a robot to score points on a themed playing field.
Each team moved through a series of judged and timed sessions to showcase their collective skills.  First, in a Project Room each team described their project, how they researched and developed a solution and their experiences working as a team to achieve the objective.  They answered tough questions from judges with aplomb.

Next, the Robot Rooms gave the teams a chance to demonstrate their technical skills in front of another set of judges who asked questions regarding sensors, motors and gears  that revealed the scope of technical knowledge among the team members.  Each team member had a turn to assume a role of expertise.
FIRST LEGO League is an alliance between FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a group founded to get children excited about science and technology,  and the LEGO group, a privately owned Danish company, and is geared toward teaching them valuable life skills.  The third challenge for the teams was the Core Values session in which they demonstrated and described those acquired skills: do high-quality work, recognize the value of others, and respect individuals and the community.

In addition to the participation of the kids, it is important to recognize the mentors, parents, relatives and friends who provided the support and encouragement to help the kids achieve success.  Not only was the magnitude of support evident by the attendance and enthusiasm of the mentors, it was apparent in their philosophy.  When asked if any of the kids on the Kenosha LEGO Masters team had any temptation of giving up or quitting during the process, Leah Powers said, “No…because we really stress the core values from the beginning, the kids already know how to get around those feelings.”
Following the sessions, the teams took a break in The Pit to eat pizza, practice with their robots and generally release some tension through the camaraderie of their groups before the three performance rounds took place in the afternoon.

The three performance rounds were the competition of the robots on a set course set up on table tops.  Judges were friendly and helpful and guided the competitors to make sure their performance was as good as possible within the time limit.   The excitement built to a climactic announcement of the awards.  The winner of the Robot Performance award was United Six with the top score of 230 points.
Regardless of which team won which award, every team and every team member is a winner in this tournament.  The LEGO motto, “Only the best is good enough,” becomes instilled in every child participant.

Photo by Kerry Lynch