Teams qualify for state LEGO tourney

For the first time, St. Mary Help of Christians School fielded three teams at the FIRST LEGO League Regionals at Aiken Technical College on Saturday - a sixth and seventh grade squad and one each of fourth- and fifth-graders.

It was a chance for the younger kids to get some experience, said coach Michelle Nelson. They got it, all right; all three teams qualified for the state LEGO championships at the North Charleston Coliseum on Saturday, March 5.

"That was a big surprise and every exciting," Nelson said and added with a laugh, "Now we have another five weeks of mayhem."

The GREAT team of Greenwood took first place among the seven state qualifiers. Two other Aiken-based squads also qualified; the Aiken LEGO kids, a home-school group, took second, while the Lion Botz of J.D. Lever Elementary School finished seventh. A Hilton Head team was sixth.

The regional event is an exercise of frenetic activity. During each round, teams must quickly get their small robots ready for two minutes of "missions" in which they can score points.

Gifted and talented teacher Nonica Livingston and mentor Charlie Brown work with the Lion Botz and the Elite Warriors from East Aiken Elementary School of the Arts.

"The kids are a lot more prepared this year," Livingston said. "The students always continue to surprise me. They have a lot of enthusiasm for the program."

Barry Hudson got involved with the Aiken High-based M'Aiken Magic program when his son Brandon was on the team. Brandon graduated in 2005; his dad did not. Barry remains active, serving as the announcer/referee for the LEGO regionals. In March, he will serve for the seventh year as the state "Big 'Bots" Palmetto Regionals announcer in Charleston.

"I remember as a kid that there wasn't a place for people who didn't want to get involved in athletes and nowhere for them to compete in academics," Hudson said. "(Robotics) is athletics and exercise of the mind. It also teaches lifelong skills, as teamwork is really emphasized in the middle school program and carries on through life."

Chukker Creek Elementary School fielded six teams of four members each with coach and guidance counselor Alyssa Kinard and mentor Ute Samuel. One of the team members is Samuel's daughter.

"I like exposing all the kids to the opportunities out there," Samuel said. "The program this year is about biomedical engineering, and I enjoyed doing the research with them."

Chukker Creek fifth-grader Alice Bernard found that she had a real interest in building robots. Each team also has to make a scientific presentation to judges, and Alice and her teammates used puppets for their talk.

"We started writing a script for the puppets," she said. "They make it easier to do the presentation."

The parents and St. Mary teachers have been a big help, said Michelle Nelson. But the rules for the robotics competition are surprisingly stringent.

"We tweak and tweak it, as it's a game of minute precision," she said. "The parents can't really appreciate it until they show up and see us in action."

In March, the parents will get another opportunity to do just that.

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.