HSCDSB Schools Claim Three First Lego League Awards
Holy Family Flames, First LEGO League Team. Photo HSCDSB.
SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – Holy Family Catholic School picked up two awards and Holy Cross Catholic School one in the First LEGO League (FLL) Robotics competition held last Saturday at Sault College.
The team from Holy Family was awarded the “Best Robot Design” and “Best Robot Performance” awards by judges in the six-team competition. The theme of the 2014 competition was ‘Education in the Future’. Teams had to cover the technical course that was part of the design module and then do a presentation on the theme to the judges.
Teams received points for successfully completing ‘missions’ on the FLL playing surface with their robot. Students had to explain to one set of judges how they put the FLL core values into practice. To another group of judges they had to explain their robot design and what technical components were included.
“I applaud the efforts of our students, teachers and parents. Their work over the past few months truly shows how a collaborative effort by a Catholic school community can lead to great achievements,” said HSCDSB Director of Education, John Stadnyk.
The Board encourages participation in events such as the First LEGO League as it promotes and enhances the use of skills necessary in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“I am very proud of our students. This was their first year in the First LEGO League and they were very cool under pressure. I was particularly impressed with how the team adapted, modified and tweaked their way to winning their awards,” said Holy Family teacher representative and Vice-Principal, Lou Spadafora.
Spadafora was joined by parent coaches, Dale Tucker and Trevor Swenson, who guided the students through the three-round competition.
Holy Cross Catholic School’s team was led by parent coach Bill Polnick and teacher representative, Claudia Greco. The Griffins were awarded the Mentorship and Leadership Award, an acknowledgement of their assistance to the Holy Family team in their first time in the FLL competition.
“We are very proud of our First LEGO League team this year. It was really great to have been able to help Holy Family join the competition and we are thrilled that they did so well. We look forward to having more teams join us next year,” said Greco.
