More than 300 third- through eighth-graders are expected to complete in the First Lego League meet on Saturday, November 21, at Monroe High School.  Competition starts at 9 a.m. 

     The event is expected to draw 31 teams with 20 of them representing Monroe County schools.  Teams are comprised of up to 10 students in grades three through eight.  Seven of the teams will qualify to advance to the state meet on December 12.

     Monroe County schools competing are:  Eyler, Ritter and Sterling elementaries and Wagar Middle School from Airport Schools; Bedford’s elementary schools; Monroe Catholic Elementary Schools; Waterloo Elementary from Monroe Public Schools; Ida Middle School; Dundee Elementary School; and Meadow Montessori Schools.

     “Each year students are given a topic of study, and a robot playing field is developed around that topic which this year is ‘Trash Trek,’” said William Hite of the Monroe County Intermediate School District who is coordinating the event, leading a group of about 100 volunteers.  “In the past few months, teams have been researching innovative solutions to problems related to trash and recycling.  They also have designed, built and programmed autonomous robots to accomplish several missions on a four-foot by eight-foot playing field.”

     The meet is not all about robotics.  There are four elements in all, Mr. Hite said.

     Teams will give a presentation to a panel of judges about their research and the innovative solution they developed.  They will be issued a teamwork challenge and judged on how their team exemplifies First Robotics’ core values.  A third category is how they demonstrate their technical skills in building and programming their robots.  Lastly, they will be judged on how their robot performs on the playing field. 

     The event is free and open to the public.