Millburn Students to Compete at State LEGO Competition

Two teams from Hartshorn Elementary School in Millburn secured two spots in the New Jersey state championships of the First LEGO League (FLL) World Class Challenge. Each also won special accolades earning themselves judges’ awards.

The Hartshorn i-Robots and Health Heroes faced three challenges: the Robot Game, the Project, and the FLL core values. Each team, led by volunteer parent coaches, participates in the challenge.

The teams were tasked with programming an autonomous robot to score points in a themed playing field, known as the Robot Game.

Each team also had to develop a solution to a problem. This year, the teams had to redesign how we gather knowledge and skills in the 21st century. This project was guided by the FLL Core Values.

The Millburn fifth graders Aryn Juneja, Tarun Sethi, Sarab Singh, Nicky Starace, Joshua Stevens and Colin Woros, the Health Heroes team earned the Judges’ Project Award by showing the most passion and commitment in their chosen project: how to teach kids to eat healthy.

“We are very proud of our team,” Health Heroes Head Coach Sunanda Sharma said. “The boys exceeded our expectations! Being a rookie team we were amazed by the amount of work and commitment the project required but the boys took it on. We are thrilled to be going to the state championships.”

Fifth graders Dhruv Kapur, Shiangtian (TT) Li, Brandon Recce, Burke Seeger, Sophia Wang, CC Wolf, and fourth grader Simon Pearl from Hartshorn i-Robots earned the highest honor at the FLL Regionals: the Champions Award, for scoring the highest in all three categories. This was the team’s second year in the tournament.

“I am ecstatic that our team is moving on to the state championships for the second year in a row,” Head Coach Zhong Li said. “The team had high expectations for themselves and challenged themselves even harder since they wanted to make the state championships again this year.”

“All the hard work and effort paid off as they were recognized with the highest honor at the regionals,” Li added. “However, we are not done yet, and look forward to more hard work in preparation for the state championships!”

As a token of their appreciation to Hartshorn Principal Kenneth Frattini, who helped create the teams last year, the Hartshorn i-Robots team is donating their well-earned trophy to Hartshorn School for display in future years to help inspire their younger counterparts into getting into LEGO robotics.

“I’m touched at this generous gift to the school from this team who remained intact since last year,” Frattini said. “The enthusiasm, teamwork, and respect for each other and the other teams that the Hartshorn i-Robots team has shown in the last two years is exemplary. The investment the coaches and parents have made in the teams is admirable.”

About the First LEGO League

The FLL state championships will be held mid-December. Founded over 20 years ago by Segway inventor Dean Kamen, First LEGO League is a nonprofit robotics program for 9 to 14-year-olds, designed to get children excited about science and technology and to teach them valuable employment and life skills. Click here for more information.

Photos courtesy of Varianny Kapur