School robotics team will compete in Whitehorse and Juneau – Skagwaynews

Skagways middle school First Lego League robotics team isgetting set for a scrimmage in Whitehorse on Nov. 29-30, as well as a regional meetat Juneau on Dec. 14.

The scrimmage in Whitehorse is based around team building,STEM challenges and an obstacle course for a robot the team is building, said MaryThole, the robotics coach and a fifth-grade teacher. The scrimmage also isbased on cooperation and competition to help teams prepare for future meets.

The December meet in Juneau is Skagways regional competition.Initially, ferry service cuts were going to prohibit the students fromattending, but additions to the schedule solved the problem.

In addition to the robotics portion of the challenge, the FirstLego League puts up different teamwork-based and engineering problems,challenging the teams to come up with solutions. This years competition iscalled City Shaper and tasks the students with coming up with ways to make apositive impact on their community.

Skagways team chose to focus on promoting more crosswalksto make the town safer for pedestrians. Their efforts have already gotten theattention of the borough assembly.

The junior robotics team is also working on pushing positiveinfluences in town. Five teams of students between third and fifth gradeshowcased different building structures at a planning and zoning commission meetingNov. 20 at city hall. The ideas offered a mix of environmental friendliness,durability and accessibility.

Go here to read the rest:

School robotics team will compete in Whitehorse and Juneau - Skagwaynews