This year, our team began an epic foray into the field of FIRST Lego League teams. We created the teams this year in an effort to bring the ideals of FIRST to a wider sampling of the students in our area, and I the process became a part of something much bigger than ourselves. We were so excited by our successful season that we just had to share it with you!
Nick Ostrom, FLL Coach: This was an incredible experience for me as a mentor but more for the students that we mentored. It was amazing and rewarding to watch these students grow from a small fighting blob of individuals to a group that worked well together and enjoyed working together. They, with the help of their mentors, were able to function as a team with energetic enthusiasm, and accomplish what we never imagined they could have. One of our teams was fortunate enough to make it to the Washington Regional on their great teamwork and once there, claim the award for second place presentation. All in all, this was a grand journey to intellectualism and success. I am very honored to have been a part of this team.
Luisa Russell, Mentor, NRG Team President: My experience with Team 2207, the ADIDA Robots on Fire, was a very positive one. As a rookie team with little to no individual experience at the outset, the kids all did an impressive job at applying themselves to the challenges at hand to great success, even bringing them to winning second place at the State Competition! Though everyone met some mighty roadblocks along the way, the kids all came away with a sense of innovation, friendship, and achievement with what they accomplished in the space of the rather short season, and all of the mentors are very proud of them. I hope that this successful program continues at Tyee Middle School for many years to come!
Michelle Ju, Lead Mentor: Throughout the ten weeks fondly nicknamed “Build Season”, the team members’ progress in areas of design, programming, research, and presentation skills was clear. As a mentor I marveled at their increasing ability to design robots that could perform complicated and specific tasks, solve problems in a mature and efficient way, and work cooperatively as a cohesive group. I also recognized in them the same growth and development I saw in myself through my participation in robotics. I take pleasure in the thought that they too are planting the seeds of their future, of confidence and creativity, of respect and dedication. It is easy to point to our team advancing to the Washington Regional Competition and the Teamwork and Project Presentation awards and say that the season was a success, but the true success of the season lays in the way that being a part of FIRST Lego League affected the participants. And that made the experience even more rewarding for me.
Aaron Steele, Mentor: After spending over 150 hours with the kids of team 2206, The Exploding Cows, my only regret is that I will not be able to do it again next year. The kids involved not only learned a lot regarding how to program and how to build a robot, but also learned some teamwork skills. They did very well for a rookie team. It was a very fun experience for everyone and will hopefully inspire them to join high school robotics in their future.
Every mentor here at Newport believes that this was a very valuable experience for everyone involved, and we all hope that this program continues for many years to come.
Mentors
Head Coach: Nicholas Ostrom.
Team 2206: Michelle Ju, Aaron Steele, Matthew Anderson.
Team 2207: David Chang, Luisa Russell, Jimmy Russell, Collin Lee, Daichi Uchino, Masafumi Hanatate.
Article ID : 3
