Following eight weeks of research and design and two days of participation in the Qualifying Tournaments, 40 teams from elementary and middle schools across Long Island demonstrated their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play and sportsmanship at the 9th Annual Long Island FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League Tournament, “SENIOR SOLUTIONSSM Challenge,” that took place on March 3 at Longwood High School in Middle Island. The event was sponsored by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) and the Longwood Central School District.

In the Senior Solutions Challenge, teams partnered with senior citizens, held conversations with them about their struggles, and created solutions as to how these setbacks can be improved. Upon completion, teams shared their solutions to their senior teammates’ problems.

The following teams received these awards:

Award

Winner

Champion’s 1st Place

Team 10147, Rocky Point Radical Robotix, Rocky Point, NY

Champion’s 2nd Place

Team 3643, Lion Bots, Bayport, NY

Mechanical Design

Team 5188, Floral Park Brick Heads, Floral Park, NY

Programming

Team 3681, The Robotic Avengers, Smithtown, NY

Research

Team 8493, TIGER BOTS, Floral Park, NY

Innovative Solution

Team 9528, Girl Scouts of Nassau County Smart Cookies, Garden City, NY

Presentation

Team 8133, Center Moriches Red Devils, Center Moriches, NY

Robot Performance 1st Place

Team 7894, Girl Scouts of Suffolk County Juliet Lowbots, Commack, NY

Robot Performance 2nd Place

Team 3681, The Robotic Avengers, Smithtown, NY

Teamwork

Team 3578, Awesome AHAPers, Dix Hills, NY

Gracious Professionalism

Team 11994, Salk Robohawks, Levittown, NY

Strategy & Innovation

Team 3815, GSNC Merrick Masters :), Merrick, NY

Inspiration

Team 15891, Junior Canes, Westhampton Beach, NY

Judge’s Award

Team 641, Robotic Falcons, Locust Valley, NY

Judge’s Award

Team 12493, GCRL Robotic Rebels, Stewart Manor, NY

Alliance Award

Team 7894, GSSC Juliet Lowbots, Commack, NY

Alliance Award

Team 5003, Atomic Askadarians, Plainview, NY

The Champion’s Award recognizes a team that embodies the FLL experience by fully embracing the core values of FIRST while achieving excellence and innovation in both the robot game and the project. Both award winners will be invited to participate in a higher level of competition — one will be invited to the World Festival on April 24-27 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri and the other will be asked to participate in the FLL US Open on May 17-19 in LEGOland in Carlsbad, California. (Both are invitation-only.)

Additional sponsors included Central Islip Public Schools; Brookhaven National Laboratory; FIRST; Sideboard Computers; Farmingdale State College; The Law Office of Jeffrey Stern; Lisa Cohen; Andrew Margolin; the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District; Sir Speedy of Plainview; and Robert Woods of LEGO Education.

Founded by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST was created to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. First LEGO League is an international program for 9- to 14-year-old children created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998 based on their common belief that fun and learning go hand-in-hand, and that an inspired mind can accomplish anything. Each September, FIRST LEGO League announces the annual Challenge to teams, engaging them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build, and program robots to complete missions based on real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.

Janet Anderson, Development Council Member, SBPLI, said: “We are pleased to coordinate the Long Island FIRST LEGO League Tournament. Together with the FIRST Robotics Competition at the high school level, these programs are opening a world of technology, science, and engineering to so many Long Island students, helping to build our high tech workforce of the future.”

For more information about School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, visit www.sbpli.org.