News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Outlaws Lego® robotics team made a very strong showing. photo provided
Sisters Middle School's Outlaws Lego® Robotics team won a berth in state competition with an extraordinarily strong performance in regional First Lego® League competition last week at Mountain View High School.
Bodie Dachtler, Ella Thorsett, Skylar Wilkins, Holly Lewis and Mathew Riehle will go to state competition in Hillsboro on January 9.
According to their coach, Meghan Flaherty, one of the remarkable things about this accomplishment is that the students did it on their own. She cheerfully admits, "They didn't have a coach."
Meghan stepped into the role simply to facilitate her son's and his friends' interest. She had no experience herself. She says she organized meetings and "told them to Google it" if they ran into questions. Perhaps unorthodox, but the approach worked. The team took fourth place to get to state, based on their time in getting their Lego® robot to complete missions.
More significantly, the team placed second for the Champions' Award, which acknowledged the team's adherence to the core values of First Lego® League competition. They worked well together on their team project, gave an excellent team interview, and showed persistence in the face of adversity. Those qualities impressed the judges and made their coach proud.
The team raised $1,000 for new robot "brains," and the Sisters Science Club chipped in $250 to cover their entry fees at the qualifying competition, for which the team is very grateful.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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