Seven teams from the Great Neck Public Schools competed in FIRST® LEGO® League Regional Qualifying events in January, with two teams advancing to the Long Island Regional Championship in Hicksville.
Great Neck students in grades 4–8 participated in two regional qualifiers: two teams from South Middle School competed at Great Hollow Middle School in Smithtown on Jan. 12, while two teams from North Middle School and three elementary robotics teams competed at Mineola High School on Jan. 26.
Two GNPS teams were presented awards at the FLL competition at Mineola High School. North Middle Blazer Bots 14317 was a recipient of the Rising All-Star Award, which celebrates a team that the judges notice and expect great things from in the future. Great Neck Pioneer Team 49906 from the elementary robotics program was awarded the Core Values Award in recognition of the team’s enthusiasm and sportsmanship. These team awards, coupled with their respective robot’s performance, qualify the Blazer Bots and Pioneer Team to advance to the Long Island Championship on Mar. 9 in Hicksville.
FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) events require teams to navigate their robot through a series of missions on a competition table, as well as present to judges an innovative solution to a problem based on this year’s theme. Teams are evaluated in four areas: Core Values, Innovation Project, Robot Design, and Robot Game.
The Elementary FLL Robotics Program is offered through the GNPS Recreation Department and brings together fourth and fifth graders from all four elementary schools. The FLL teams at North Middle School and South Middle School are conducted as after-school clubs.
Following the FLL program for grades 4–8, GNPS offers robotics teams for grades 9–12 with North High’s team competing in the FIRST Tech Challenge, and South High’s team competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
Middle school FLL team mentors are Dr. Zachary Boyt and Thomas Livingston at North Middle School, and Brendan Beutel and Nick Haramis for South Middle School. Elementary FLL team mentors are Courtney Beavan, Brendan Beutel, and Thomas Livingston. John Motchkavitz serves as the districtwide robotics coordinator for the Great Neck Public Schools.