A Central Park Elementary robotics team is heading into rare territory, planning to compete at the Western Edge FIRST Lego League Invitational in Long Beach, California, from May 29-31.
The “Beyond the Brick” team of seven students in fourth and fifth grades qualified for the invitational by placing third out of about 40 teams in the First Lego League Robotics state tournament Dec. 20 at Mason High School, south of Lansing.
They are the first team from Central Park, a school that opened in 2017, to compete in an invitational.
The students – Mason Curry, Evelyn Laitar, Cassey Ackerman, Bo Rui Koh, Camille Krause, Audrey Houser and Mark Xu – also placed third at the regional competition in Freeland on Dec. 6.
Coming together in early September, the team designed a robot game and an innovation project and researched this year’s FLL theme of “On Earth.” They even took a field trip to the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and talked with archaeologists there.
“They have to learn how to code, how to build a tool, and solve the missions,” explained Shan Pin Koh, one of the team’s three coaches along with SzeSze Ng and Lina Cano Ackerman.
Part of the challenge was to construct a pyramid-shaped cradle to prevent an egg from falling and cracking. The egg represented a precious artifact that was being shipped from a dig site to a science lab.
The students chose the pyramid design that took the highest number of attempts of dropping the egg from a certain height before it broke.
“We ran a lot of tests and broke a lot of eggs – that’s the best part,” one of the students said with a smile.
The three coaches were presented with the Coach Mentor Award at the state tournament after being nominated by their team.
As the students prepare for their next competition, they have reached out to another Midland robotics team that is also advancing – the TechnoHuskies from Jefferson Middle School, who won the Inspire Award and first place while competing out of 72 teams at the FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship in Muskegon in December. The TechnoHuskies will advance to the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston from April 29 – May 2.
Beyond the Brick and the TechnoHuskies got together at the Midland Public Schools robotics center on Wednesday night and shared ideas and inspiration.
To raise money for its trip to the competition in southern California, the Central Park team is working on some restaurant nights at local eateries, where a certain portion of the proceeds on a certain night would go toward the team’s expenses. They might also do an event at the Midland Area Farmers Market, which opens for the season in early May.
Beyond the Brick is grateful for all the support it has already received.
“We are very thankful for all the community support from different scientists and engineers in the Midland area who helped us out. We also have a lot of parents who have helped us coach the kids and keep them engaged,” Ng said.