by Rachel Hunter
The Gouverneur Central School District sent four middle school teams to the FIRST LEGO League Challenge, a regional robotics competition, hosted on Saturday, February 11 by Clarkson University’s Institute for STEM Education FIRST Robotics Program in Potsdam, NY.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. The FIRST LEGO League introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16 through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem-solving experience through a guided, global robotics program, helping today's students and teachers build a better future together. FIRST LEGO League consists of three divisions (Discover, Explore, and Challenge), aimed at inspiring youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics. Through the three divisions of FLL, students will understand the basics of STEM and apply their skills in an exciting competition while building habits of learning, confidence, and teamwork skills along the way. Clarkson’s FIRST Robotics programs are part of the K12 outreach programs within the Institute for STEM Education. In a typical year, Clarkson’s FIRST Robotics programs support over 50 FIRST teams, including those at the elementary school, middle school and high school level. The Gouverneur Central School District participates at all levels.
The four teams of Gouverneur Wildcats from the Gouverneur Middle School competed in the FIRST LEGO League Challenge on Feb. 11 at Clarkson University in Potsdam. Gouverneur Middle School STEM Teacher and GMS Robotics Coach Heather Delity said, “At Gouverneur, we had so much interest that we 11 teams of between 6-12 kids. Right after Thanksgiving break, we did an internal competition. Each team had their robot complete the obstacle course for the challenge. The top four teams were the ones that qualified to go to Clarkson. Those four teams then met twice per week until February to get ready for the Clarkson competition. They have to do a research project. This year’s theme was energy, how we use energy and how we get energy. They had to come up with an innovative idea for how to better get energy. So, each team came up with an idea… and presented them to the judges at Clarkson. There were 25 different teams from all over the area. We sent four teams, and they all did great. Because of Covid, this was the first time we have been able to go to the competition in three years. All the kids who had done it before have moved on… so this was the first time going for all the kids. That was really fun to participate in it with everyone there. We have three teams that were all boys, and one team that was all girls.”
Team Enthusiastic Energy, the all-girl team from the Gouverneur Middle School, won the first-place trophy for the Best Overall Robotics Design. Mrs. Delity said, “It is an engineering award for creating the robot that was the most functional, had the most features, and was able to be able to interact with the obstacles. They were able to explain how they designed it, what sensors they were using, and how they were operating different attachments. I was really proud of them. Girls often don’t often get engineering type of awards, so I was excited when it was presented.” Team Enthusiastic Energy featured the following Wildcats: Arianna Brown, Alessandria Colon, Karsyn Cudhea, Sophi Hayden, Kendra Jenkins, Lexi Merkley, Gabriella Rayburn, Isabella Rayburn, and Olivia Salazar.
Two of the Gouverneur Wildcat all-boys teams came in second and third overall in scoring. “I was proud of (all the teams),” Mrs. Delity said. “They all put their best forward at the competition.” Team Monster Men scored the second highest score overall. It featured the following students: Kameran Bice, Keegan Durham-Travis, Gregory Haines Jr., Ayden Miller, Jacob Moon, Aidan Roggie, Colton Salter, Treyton Smith, and Gavin Tulley. Team Savage Robo Gang featured the following students: Lucas Doster, Connor MacKinnon, Brycen Parshley, Nathan Wang, and Parker Williams. Team Geared Builder Men include the following students: Alessandro Colon, Logan Doster, Levi Klock, Hendrix McSweeney, Jacob Sibley, Jackson Skeels, Daniel Storie.
Mrs. Delity anticipates more Gouverneur Central School District students will look to get involved in robotics as interest continues to grow at the local level.
For more information about the Gouverneur Central School District, visit gcsk12.org.