Bristol and Warren Students Show Their Skills at Lego Competition

Teams from Bristol and Warren schools made a respectable showing at the First Lego League Competition held Jan. 12 at Roger Williams University, with all three teams finishing in the top 25 and one squad breaking into the top 10.

"Wheelchair Workout," one of two teams from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Bristol, posted scores of 245, 180, and 185 in the three rounds of competition, good for eighth overall.

"Robo Seniors" from OLMC and "Bazinga" from Kickemuit Middle School finished tied for 23rd.

[Video: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Students Prep for Lego League Competition]

Lynn Towers, the coach for the OLMC teams, said in an email that she is proud of her students' accomplishment . The judges even suggested that a boat created for the competition — which includes locks for wheelchairs — might actually be a workable design.

Of the eighth-place finish by the "Wheelchair Workout" squad, Towers wrote: "As a school, we usually score between 10-15 ranking in the robot game. So that score of eight was impressive."

Towers also explained that one of the Mount Carmel squads had to deal with a glitch, but still managed a good finish.

"The sixth grade had a very nervous moment when they went to robot judging and found the batteries in their robot completely dead," Towers explained. "They used the printouts of their programs, but they couldn't show the robot in action."

And even with the pressure-packed nature of the annual competition, Towers noted that the students were able to unwind once the judging concluded.

"They did so well and had so much fun — by the end of the day, when the pressure was off, they were found dancing and singing to the DJ and just having a great time with the other teams there," Towers wrote. "Most of the kids agreed that the competition was nerve-wracking, but also a lot of fun."