Almost 120 teams of 4th and 8th graders from throughout the state and SW Washington swarmed into the Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Championship Tournament at Glencoe High School on March 4th and 5th.  These teams had won preliminary competitions that involved 450 teams with over 3,000 participants.  At Glencoe Over 100 volunteers shepherded teams through the crowded halls to three stages where they were judged on teamwork values, presentations on solving animal/human interaction, and putting their Lego robots through over 9 unique tasks.  Each team arrived with their robots, posters, and dressed in matching costumes.  Approximately 5 to 10 kids comprise a team.  They have to learn how to work together to solve programming and animal problems.  With time limits on each judged presentation or sequence, they demonstrated poise, dedication, and smarts.  And they had fun!  Teams showed versatility and humor.  

The theme of this year’s presentation sequence is Animal Allies. At the beginning of the season in September, each team studied the way humans and animals interact, then chose a particular problem that comes up in those interactions. As a team, they developed an innovative solution for improving those interactions.  Each team also designed, built and programmed a unique LEGO robot that solves missions relating to how humans and animals help each other out every day.

Don Domes, one of the Board Members for Oregon Robotics Tournament Outreach Program (ORTOP) and a WCK Steering Committee member, guided visitors through the precisely scheduled competition.  In the Robot Design judging a group of girls from Springfield had a broken part that kept their robot from performing all its tasks but the members quickly showed the judges their programming.  In the Core Values judging, another group described their efforts to function as a team to research the need for bats to survive.  And in the Presentation sequence a team presented their take on solutions to having raptors killed by wind farms, all while dressed in a variety of homemade raptor costumes.  The main gym was packed with the robotics competition of each team getting two and a half minutes to demonstrate their robot’s ability to perform the required tasks, with multiple teams competing head-to-head at the same time.  In the “pit” teams could practice performing the tasks with their robot with the opportunity to do last minute program tweaks.  Later, tours of the back room found the team from South Meadows preparing for their judging, lead by a seasoned advisor, Savannah Loberger, now a junior at OSU and the originating coordinator of “Girls Get It” for five years.  That program died after funding dried up but it inspired the formation of the national program.  Her younger sister, Rachel, a member of the South Meadows team, proudly showed the programming sheet for their robot and their possible solution to white nose disease that is killing bats.  The Orenco Elementary School team posed with their teacher, Nikki Beale, and State Senator Chuck Riley, a retired programmer-analyst.  The teams were tired but excited about the competition to obtain their highest score of the day, possibly win the tournament, and go on to national and international competition.  The teams and competition involve participants in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and encourage them to continue in those fields.  More volunteers, teachers, and funds are needed to allow more kids to participate in this worthwhile activity.