On Saturday, November 18th, Andover Elementary Middle School’s two new Lego Robotics teams went to a Qualifier Competition where they competed against other Middle School teams from around the state.  19 teams participated and Andover’s 8-Bit Eagles earned 30 points in the robotics competition, earning 14th place!  Our second team, the Pixelators, received 40 points in the competition, earning 11th place!

For the event, students are expected to show teamwork, good sportsmanship and participate in other challenges as well.  Teams are expected to research and create a solution based on this year’s challenge theme, Hydrodynamics.  Another team challenge was to present their robot, discuss creation and programming choices and demonstrate critical thinking, problem solving, and creative ingenuity.  The final challenge has teams participating in a team building exercise where they are assessed on their team work skills and how well they demonstrate FIRST Lego Leagues Core Values System.

Students experience many new challenges, and faced this new experience with enthusiasm and positive energy.  They came away excited for the possibilities of next year, inspired by other teams, and with a larger understanding of what to expect next year, and they can honestly not wait!  Even our 8th grade team member expressed a serious interest in volunteering to mentor next year’s team in order to remain involved and help lead this new academic club to greater achievements.

Everyone at AEMS is extremely proud of this hard working team who started this year late in the competition and only met 8 times altogether for an hour at a time and performed exceptionally!  Great job everyone!