MHS Red Hawk Robotics hosts Lego State Qualifier

On December 7, the MHS Red Hawk Robotics Team hosted their annual FLL (FIRST Lego League) competition, dubbed “The Red Hawk Rumble”. Thirty regional teams of elementary and middle school students descended on MVMMS to show off their talents. Within these 30 teams were 6 Melrose teams coached by parents and supported by the MHS Robotics team with both coaching support and free admittance to the event.

FIRST Lego League is an international competition that inspires students in STEM to compete in three different disciplines: robot design, research project, and teamwork and gracious values. Teams build and program a Lego robot to solve a set of missions, made out of Legos, in 2.5 minutes and conduct research about this year’s oceanography theme.  The innovation project allows students to pick a challenge and then execute a design process to create a solution for that challenge. The students then present all of their hard work to a panel of judges.

Six different teams from Melrose participated in the Rumble. One veteran team made up of 8th graders was named the Robros. The team is a hardworking group of Melrose middle schoolers with great ideas and creativity. Another team, The Baked Potatoes, are high-energy and imaginative group of 5th graders from Lincoln Elementary School. The Lego Warriors are a team of four friends from MVMMS who love to explore coding. Joining the ranks of the more seasoned teams is the rookie team named Team Turbo, which is made up of 4th graders. 

This year we had two Melrose teams qualify to compete at States in Newton. One of these teams is named the Robocopti, which is a re-imagined group in their final year of FLL competition, bringing many arms to the table. Coached by Bethany Ellis and Caroline Petrovick, the team members include Tristan Greenhagen, Alex Leo, Ava Wagoner, along with their 3-year veteran teammates Lucy Petrovick, Ella Steltz, and Jackson Thies. They qualified for states by winning second place in the robot design category by demonstrating a deep understanding of their robot capabilities and by diving deep into robot modifications and data collection. They worked effectively as a team, almost as if they each had 8 arms. 

The Lego Lemurs, eight 6th graders who attended Winthrop Elementary School together, earned their place to states by earning the top spot at the Rumble, the First Place Championship Award, because they were well organized and harnessed the skills and contributions of each team member. They demonstrated success in all areas of the competition. They are composed of Henry, Kai, Anahi, Bobby, Calder, Eliot, Jack, and Tristan. Their coach, Alan Leo, said about their team: “The kids were proud to go to states, and felt like they earned their place there. Their robot performed well — in the top half of all teams — and people loved their innovation project. It’s a long day, but the team stayed positive the whole time — at the closing ceremony, they built a human pyramid, which inspired teams around them to try the same. It was joyful chaos.”