Wicklow Montessori School crowned national Lego League champions
WICKLOW Montessori have been crowned the national FIRST LEGO League champions for the fourth year in a row.
The science and technology challenge, which is aimed at 11-16 year olds, tasks teams to build a robot to tackle a series of missions, and create an innovative solution to a real world problem.
Wicklow Montessori won the overall national title on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry in Dublin, having already won the Regional Final held in February.
Now the sixth class pupils can look forward to competing in the FIRST LEGO League world finals taking place in Detroit at the end of April, where they will be representing Ireland.
This year’s ‘City Shaper’ challenge helped students learn more about architecture and the spaces we live in, while demonstrating their skills in robotics, computer programming, teamwork, research, problem solving and communication.
Principal, Dara Mulhall, said everyone at Wicklow Montessori were delighted with the accomplishments of the pupils involved.
‘Everyone associated with the school are so proud of this achievement.
‘The pupils put in a huge amount of effort and got their just reward.
We have been Irish winners four times in a row and this is will be our third year taking part in the World Championships in Detroit.
‘It’s a great achievement for a small school. Everyone in the group was involved and no one was left feeling isolated or left out. There will be 106 different countries represented at the World Championships so it is going to be a brilliant experience for all the pupils,’ said Principal Mulhall.
As part of their challenge, ‘BuildA-Bots’ imagined and created a building which can accommodate different uses. To begin with they surveyed Wicklow town, identified public spaces and recorded the number of derelict and empty buildings.
The pupils also built a model community centre, located by the water front, which included a games room, cafe, gym, scout hall, sensory garden and a prayer/meditation room and a solar-powered roof-top garden.