On Friday 12/9 and Saturday 12/10 LKSD held the First Lego League qualifier tournament at Gladys Jung Elementary in Bethel. This year we had 10 teams compete in person, and one additional team which was not able to travel competed remotely via Zoom. We had 3 teams represent Kwethluk's Ket'acik & Aapalluk Memorial School, 3 teams represent Ayaprun Elitnaurvik, 2 teams represent Gladys Jung Elementary School, 1 team represent Kasigluk's Akiuk Memorial School, 1 team represent Tuntutuliak's Lewis Angapak Memorial School, and 1 team represent Bethel Regional High School. The students had a great time and were able to build upon a variety of valuable academic and employability skills in the process.
The following award winners from this year's event have earned special recognition:
Greg Sweet earned the Volunteer Award for his dedication and gracious professionalism in supporting FIRST robotics at LKSD.
Katie Rosdorff earned the Coaches Award for her tireless work in leading the 3 brand new teams from Kwethluk to the competition.
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The Ayaprun Sun Campers earned the Core Values Award. This team displays extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit, knows they can accomplish more together than they could as individuals, and always shows respect to each other and to the other teams.
The Lego Cranes from Gladys Jung Elementary School earned the Robot Design Award. This team used outstanding programming principles and solid engineering practices to develop a robot that is mechanically sound, durable, efficient, and highly capable of performing challenge missions.
The Ayaprun Brick Busters earned the Innovation Project Award. This team utilized diverse resources for their Innovation Project to help them gain a comprehensive understanding of their problem; had a creative, well-researched solution; and effectively communicated their findings to judges and the community. The Brick Busters will be one of the teams advancing to state to represent their school and LKSD.
Bethel Regional High School's team Snacks At 7:30 won the coveted Champion's Award. This award celebrates a team that embodies the FIRST LEGO League Challenge experience by fully embracing the Core Values while achieving excellence and innovation in Robot Performance, Robot Design, and the Innovation Project. Additionally, Snacks At 7:30 earned the Robot Performance Award. Snacks At 7:30 will also be representing BRHS and LKSD at the state tournament.
Congratulations are deserved not only for the award winners, but to all the teams who participated, learned, and grew through the experience this season.
Much appreciation and gratitude goes out to all of the volunteers who helped with organization, judging and facilitation of the event, as well as our sponsors at the Juneau Economic Development Council and their representatives Craig Fox and Brian Holst who came to Bethel and were paramount in helping our tournament run successfully. Finally, thank you to all our coaches and mentors who worked with the teams throughout the season, and to the parents who supported their children and made the event possible.