Three teams of Sacred Heart middle school students attended the FIRST® LEGO® League Nebraska City robotics qualifier on Saturday, January 25th. Each team consisted of up to ten 7th or 8th graders who competed against a total of 48 other teams at the competition. Two of the three teams qualified for the Nebraska Championship held at the Strategic Air Command Aerospace Museum in Ashland on February 22nd.
Sacred Heart started this program last year with the help of a donation from the AMES Companies, Inc. in Falls City, NE. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Assistant Jami Ankrom and SH teacher Erin Waller coach the team, and they have met once or twice each week since the beginning of the school year.
According to their website, “FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) is a program that supports children in order to introduce them to science and technology in a sporty atmosphere.” The program challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers. Students build, test, and program a robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® technology to solve a set of missions in the Robot Game. The program celebrates discovery, teamwork, and professionalism.
This year’s competition theme is City Shapers. Students were asked to come up with a way to ensure a stronger, more sustainable future for our community.
