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One of Christianna Van Dalsen’s favorite things about building a robot in her school’s Lego League was when something went wrong.

“Then we would all throw in our input and keep twiddling and testing until it was solved, and when we succeeded in overcoming the issue, we would all cheer and congratulate each other like we were family,” said Christianna, an eighth grader at the Brown Summit Middle School Center for Advanced Academics. “That is basically what Lego League is, a big family of Lego robot builders.”

That “family” includes two Brown Summit Middle Lego League teams. After placing at a recent regional competition, both teams qualified to participate last month in the North Carolina FIRST Lego League competition. FIRST means “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” The Brown Summit Middle Red Team, also called Vobis Annullomus, won first place in the research quality and presentation category. (Vobis Annullomus is Latin for “We will annihilate you.”)

The FIRST Lego League is the fourth- to eighth-grade equivalent of a high school robotics team, explained Lego coach Kirby Young. The league introduces children to a real-world challenge to be solved by research, critical thinking and imagination. Student teams work with an adult mentor to design, build and program a Lego-based robot to complete specific tasks on a thematic playing surface. The teams also research their topic and develop a solution to be presented to a team of judges. This year’s challenge was “Smart Move,” which related to solving problems in the transportation industry.

“I now have a deeper understanding of the basics of robotics and programming,” Christianna said. “I am certain I will be able to apply this understanding to the mechanics of other machines and programming applications as I move forward in school and life.”

The Vobis Annullomus team won first place for their research project on sidewalk materials.

“As coaches, we are extremely proud of these students, because they did all of the work by themselves,” said coach Lou Skrabec. “We helped them get started with some brainstorming techniques and teamwork guidelines, but they took it from there.”

Eighth grader Kay Sandlin joined the Lego League because she thought programming robots sounded fun.

“I learned a lot about working with others, and I learned how much I loved working with robots,” Kay said. “Working with others is something everyone needs in life, and I’m glad that I got to learn that with all of my new friends.”

Eighth grader William Clontz joined because it pertains to engineering, and he hopes to become an engineer.

“Lego robotics will help me in the future with engineering and computer skill, and plus, it was fun,” William said. “I learned how to get along with kids with different personalities and backgrounds.”
 

Brown Summit Middle started with two Lego teams in the fall of 2008, after students saw a demonstration at the AT&T World of Tomorrow Exhibition. Through the help of several outside donors and the PTSA, the school was able to raise enough money to support both teams.

“The goals for our teams at Brown Summit Middle are built around the term ‘gracious professionalism’ and the mission and vision of our school,” Young said. “We are a small school with big aspirations, and FIRST Lego League gives the students on our teams the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and their ability to work together and persevere through the challenge provided.”

Brown Summit Middle’s teams are made up of 10 girls and nine boys from all three grades. The teams usually meet one afternoon a week after school and during the school’s club time, but as competition time approached, they met more, often before and after school.

Young and Skrabec both have high hopes for the Lego Leagues and said they would love to gain more sponsors and add a couple more teams.

“If we can teach our students to think critically and imaginatively about a real-world-based problem and to research and develop a solution for this problem, then we are preparing them for the future,” Young said. “Not only that, they are having a blast in the process.”

Contact Jennifer Atkins Brown at jennifer.brown@news-record.com.