Competing with some of the brightest young engineers in the state, a team of students from Washington County emerged victorious in the First Lego League State Championship over the weekend of February 3 to 4. The Fellowship -- a team of five fifth through eighth graders from the Edmunds Consolidated School and one student from the Pembroke Elementary School -- defeated 25 teams at the event, which was also their first ever competition.
      "We were really surprised," says advisor LeRoy Danielson. He and his wife, Jennifer Plaut, are also the 4 H advisors in the area, and they heard about the competition last August. Their children are Lego enthusiasts, and they knew the Edmunds Consolidated School had held some robotics events before, but then they found out that the school had a stash of robotics equipment from the Perloff Foundation. "It was everything we needed to compete," Danielson says. Some of it was older, but "it worked just fine."
      Over the next five months, the team of six students -- Nayeli Mawhar, Soren Danielson, Wesley Jones, Ira Danielson and Kai Mawhar from the Edmunds school and Théo Messin from the Pembroke school -- met once a week to plan their approach and build the robot. Neither Danielson nor Plaut consider themselves to be engineers or programmers, but the students found their way through the instructions with enthusiasm. "The kids learned all of it on their own," Danielson says.
      The students built a robot that could perform at up to 15 "missions" while maneuvering over a 4'x8' plywood mat. The robot needed to manipulate levers, trigger plates and rotate spinning devices -- all of which had to be programmed in advance by the students. For each mission, the students devised and built a unique accessory attachment for the robot to use.
      The team practiced again and again before the match, and it paid off. "I think we had the best ever run on the first try at the competition," says Danielson. "The kids were beside themselves."
      Apart from the robotics component of the competition, teams were scored in two other areas. One was to create an app that showcased the interests of the team and shared them with other children.
      The students opted to focus on trading card games such as Pokemon and Magic the Gathering. They designed a prototype of the app, including a browsable menu, the ability to play with other youth, a map for searching for nearby events, a chat room and a video tutorial section to learn how to play the games. They developed a funding source, along with a method for shipping cards between players making a trade. They created a webpage and a logo and printed and ironed it onto T shirts that they wore to the competition.
      "Our kids ran with it," Danielson says. "I think that's what the judges really liked."
      The third component for judging was in the category of gracious professionalism. Based on the camaraderie of the Fellowship, they believed this category would be their greatest strength going into the competition. The students worked exceptionally well together, helping one another through difficult moments and being supportive throughout. "That's where our team really shined," Danielson says. "Watching the kids was my favorite part."
      The Fellowship was up against strong competitors, and the team thoroughly enjoyed walking around to see the robots that the other teams had created. "There were so many teams that had much more well programmed and devised robots and an understanding of those robots," Danielson says. "They've been working on the competition for years and years." One team even had its own robotics trailer with a logo on it.
      "We didn't go to win," Danielson says. "Just to find out what it was like. Our kids were excited and wanted to do their best." Nearly all of the teams had the maximum of 10 members, but a few, like the Fellowship, were smaller.
      When the winner was announced, "our jaws hit the floor," Danielson says. "We were lucky and fortunate. There were a bunch of teams that also deserved to win."
      Having won the statewide competition, the Fellowship qualifies to represent Maine in the global competition alongside students from 60 other countries. The competition will be held during spring break this year in Houston. Team members will be fundraising in the near future to help cover the costs of transport and lodging for the six students and their chaperones to attend the event, with a GoFundMe site to be set up next week.
      The team plans to continue competing at the state level next year, with some students branching out into high school competitions. Those interested in supporting the team's attendance in Houston can donate to the Cobscook Currents 4H Club. To do so, visit the 4H Donation Page and choose "Other Fund", noting the funds are for Cobscook Currents or the 1st Lego League.