Every year the First Lego League team preps a new season, but what is First Lego League? First Lego League is a competition that ranges from 4th to 8th grade and has 48,0000 children from 110 countries, according to High Tech Kids, or ages 4 through 14, says NYC First. Every year a new theme is chosen for the first Lego League competition.  The MMS team will compete against over 3,500 teams.

This year’s theme for the competition is “Submerged.” Teams have to build a robot to complete challenges based off the ocean.

Participation in LEGO and robotics activities offers several benefits to students. According to the Center at the Confluence, the first Lego League provides a fun hands-on experience for 6th through 8th grade. Participants gain real-world experience with problem solving, and the competition introduces them to science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM. The Carlsbad Education Foundation also says that the First Lego League also helps students and teachers “build a better future together.” First Lego League also allows students to build skills with coding and computer science.

Mr. Face, adviser for MMS’s team, noted benefits for schools having a Lego robotics team. He said that our school has many sports competitions but not many things involving problem solving.

This is very important because, according to the Institute of Competition Sciences, problem solving in grades K–12 can increase students’ critical and analytic thinking as well as give students a greater sense of self-confidence. The Institute of Competition Sciences also says that problem solving often means working within teams, helping to foster teamwork skills. They also say that 82.9% of employers view problem solving as a highly-valued skill, showing how beneficial Lego robotics is to the eighth grade for their future and education. The First Lego League is also supposed to build connections between students and teachers.

Mr. Face noted that it is hard to predict this early how the team will perform. But he is hopeful and believes the team this year has great potential.  With any competition-based program, Mr. Face does have some concerns about keeping the team focused.

Yashas, one of the new team members this year, feels like the team has a slim chance of winning their first competition since these events can be very competitive, with representatives from schools that specialize in STEM. Oleg Sergeev, however, is hopeful about the team’s performance.

Although the MMS team may not bring home awards this year, the students will still learn from the team and experience.