On Sunday, December 10th, the Saint Joseph School FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Robotics Team competed in the Worcester FLL Qualifier Event at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). This year’s challenge theme was Masterpiece. Therefore, in addition to competing with an autonomous robot that the team designed and programmed to solve missions, the team had to imagine and innovate a new way to create and communicate art across the globe—using their imagination to re-think the world of art! Following much discussion regarding their interests and hobbies, the SJS team, also known as the Fantastic 4, decided to focus on dance. In addition, the team learned that there are limited resources for visually impaired dancers to study independently. Therefore, they utilized a tactile drawing board to create a library of basic poses and positions that dancers could feel instead of seeing. Then, they shared their project with fellow Saint Joseph School students, dancers, and visually impaired friends. During the Qualifier Event, the team had to present their research and results in a fun and creative manner. Congratulations to the team for being named a semi-finalist in the Innovation Project Award category. LEGO presents this award to teams that utilize diverse resources for their Innovation Project to help them comprehensively understand their problem, have a creative, well-researched solution, and effectively communicate their findings to judges and the community. In addition to receiving the award, the team received a “golden ticket,” inviting them to compete in the Massachusetts Championship FIRST LEGO League Tournament at WPI on Saturday, December 16th. Team members include 6th grade students Lukas Barbosa, Mychael Jones, Jacob Lopez, and 8th Grade student Emily Macko. Saint Joseph School Principal Beth Boudreau and parent volunteer Mariusz Macko coach them. Congratulations, and best of luck in the State Championship!
