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10 Aurora kids qualify for national Lego robot-building contest

Aurorans Jensie Coonradt, 9, and Kaiya Hollister, 10, won first place in the Illinois regional finals of the World Robot Olympiad at SciTech Hands-on Museum, 17 W. Benton St. in Aurora Aug. 22.

The duo, called Robogals, was among four teams of 10 elementary to middle school students who qualified for WRO national finals at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan, in November.

Other qualifying teams, second- through fourth-place winners, were The Instigators, with Amber Rinker and Tytus Rinker, both of Aurora; Pearl Pirates with Aditya Prashanth, Siddharth Pattisapu and Aditya Naidu, all of Aurora; and Minibots with Anshul Puri and Reid Falcon, both of Aurora, and Ethan Dawes of Naperville.

Students built computer-programmed Lego robots.in the contest sponsored by Aurora-based Chasewood Learning, a private, after-school, STEM-based education provider.

Coonradt and Hollister also sang the national anthem in opening ceremonies. U.S. Congressman Bill Foster, D-Naperville, was the guest speaker.

WRO is a global robotics competition that brings young people from all over the world together.

Teams of youngsters get the opportunity to learn science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and develop their creative and problem-solving skills through various robotics challenges mostly using Lego robots.

Currently, more than 50 countries with nearly 20,000 teams are participating in this event. Each participating country has its own competition and the best teams are invited to compete at the World Robot Olympiad.

Lawrence Technological University/Robofest in Michigan is the U.S.A. National Organizer.

In Nov. 6-8, nearly 20,000 student teams from more than 50 countries will take part in an international robotics tournament known as World Robot Olympiad in Doha, Qatar.

Kids in eight teams compete to building Lego robots in the Illinois state finals of the World Robot Olympiad at SciTech Hands-on Museum in Aurora. Courtesy of Al Benson
Four teams totaling 10 elementary to middle school students qualify for WRO national finals at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan, in November. Students build computer-programmed Lego robots in the competition. Courtesy of Al Benson
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