(Pictured: The RoboSharks in a team huddle before presenting to judges.)

The 23rd annual Maine FIRST Lego League Championship on December 3rd was another success with two dozen teams from around the state coming to Spruce Mountain High School. Hosted by the Blue Crew out Farmington, all 24 teams shared their innovation projects with judges in the morning and competed in the robot performance in the afternoon. Teams came from Brewer, Caribou, Jay, Oakland, Old Town, Vinalhaven, Winslow and other towns mentioned below to present their innovative projects to judges and test out their robot designs on the field.  

The Champion’s Award went to the Smart Fun Engineers (Team 16492,), who, for the fifth consecutive year won the Robot Game Award with their robot’s high score of 270 points. They will now have an opportunity to represent Maine at the international FLL event in Texas in 2023. Their win included defeating the Gardiner Iron Tiger Cubs (Team 48102) in the “Just for Fun” playoff finals.  

The Champion’s Finalist Award went to STEAM Powered Knights (Team 34104) from the St. George School. The team, led by coach Amy Palmer, is comprised of all new-to-the-game eighth graders. They performed strongly in the three judged areas – Core Values, Robot Design and Innovation Project. 

The Core Values Award went to the team from the Leeds Central School (Team 52374), who exemplified inclusion and teamwork in their performances and projects. The Core Values Finalist Award went to the Smart Fun Scientists (Team 57933). 

The Innovation Project Award went to the Legendary LEGO Coop Kids (Team 51454) from the Berwick area, who despite being a young team had another strong performance this year.  The Innovation Project Finalist Award went to the RoboSharks (Team 14407) from the Shapleigh School in Kittery, who made an impressive debut at the event in a team of all fifth graders. 

The Robot Design Award went to the Electronic Mustangs from the CK Burns School in Saco and the Robot Design Finalist Award went to the Renewable NRG Bars from Orono Middle School. 

The Outstanding Volunteer Award went to Dr. Laura Guerney from UMaine, whose involvement in the FIRST Lego League events and mentoring of judges has been invaluable over the years.  The Coach/Mentor Award went to Chris Herrick, whose positive and focused leadership has been key to the success of the young Legendary LEGO Coop Team in the past few years. 

To learn more about opportunities for Robotics in Maine schools, check out Robotics Institute of Maine (RIM). For information about computer science in Maine schools, please check out the Maine Department of Education’s Computer Science page. If you have a robotics success story at your school, email jonathan.m.graham@maine.gov.