GT students win awards in Lego competition

The members of the First Lego League team are, from left: front row, Shaun Holland and Rachel Goodman; back row, Morgan McCune, Alicen Wendall, Shani Cliften, and Jessica Richelieu

A very young Mountain Home School District "First Lego League" team recently brought home a first-place trophy from a competition held in Pocatello.

It was only the second year that a team from Mountain Home has been involved with First Lego League (FLL).

Guided by adult mentors and their own imaginations, FLL students solve real-world engineering challenges, develop important life skills, and learn to make positive contributions to society, noted Dave Holland, one of the groups mentor/advisors with the Mountain Home School District Gifted and Talented program.

The competition was broken down into two parts -- presentation and robotic missions.

The presentation portion consisted of the kids researching and analyzing the energy use of West Elementary. They then came up with possible solutions to cut energy cost. They presented the information using a puppet show. Judges asked several questions to see if indeed the students knew their information.

The next portion of the competition was robotic missions. Using a robot, the team had to perform thirteen missions on a 4'x8' mat.

The trophy, one of four awarded, was for teamwork. The other categories were presentation, design, and overall.

The team, which consisted of Jessica Richelieu, Morgan McCune, Rachel Goodman, Shani Cliften, Shaun Holland, and student coach Alicen Wendall, will represent the team at the state tournament in January.