Local 3rd Grade Jr. FIRST LEGO League team makes the trip to world competition in St. Louis
A group of third grade Brownie troop members from Lions Park Elementary School are all members of the Tiny Tornados, a Jr. FIRST LEGO League team. Earlier in the school year, they were given the opportunity to form a Girl Scouts of America-sponsored team and were recently invited to participate in the FIRST Lego League World Festival Expo held in St. Louis on April 24-26.
The Tiny Tornadoes had several mentors assisting them along the way teaching them about motors, gears, pulleys and speed. They had coaches and members from middle school and high school-level teams come to guide them as they were building their model.
The team was invited to show their work at the Girl Scout Stemapalooza, where they presented their model to girl scouts of all ages and their leaders from across the region. They also participated in the Lions Park School Science Fair where they practiced their presentaion skills in front of their peers, teachers and parents.
Part of the FIRST Lego League is to offer challenges and competitions teams of students and their coaches/teachers. There are regional competitions, and district/state competitions all vying for a spot at the annual World Championship held in St. Louis. The Tiny Tornados were selected to present their model in front of a pannel of judges at the World Championship, along side 40 other international Jr. Level teams. Most other teams were from across the United States - 4 from IL - but some came from as far away as Beijing, China.
When it came time to present their model to the volunteer judges, the girls were understandibly nervous, but gave their presentation with confidence and grace. They summarized their season and answered some tough questions, like "what was your favorite Core Value?" Of course, it was to HAVE FUN. During the closing ceremony, the Tiny Tornadoes were given the Picasso Award for the creativity and beauty of their model, which they accepted on stage in front of all the other Jr. FLL teams.
The rest of the trip at the Wold Competition was spent visiting teams from places as far away as India, SriLanka, Hong Kong, Barcelona and New Zeleand. They even had quite a lengthy conversation with Mr. Jacob Kragh, President of the LEGO Education Division about what it felt like being a part of FIRST as a third grader.
Then it was off to see the high school teams compete in the Edward Jones Dome, where they watched their own high school team, WildStang compete in the final rounds.
What started out as an opportunity to build with Legos has turned into so much more. The girls have developed some essential life skills; working as a team, listening to others, learning about natural disasters, trying and refining their own ideas, presenting their work to others and most important, having fun while working together.