In its second appearance at The Bahamas Lego Challenge (BLC), T.G. Glover is the first public school to capture the Champion's Award in the three-year history of the program. They also took home the Project Award for their website as well as the Robot Performance Award.
Perez Major, Pauline Sweeting, Ishmael Pratt, Welneisha Armbrister and Jasmine Roker comprised the T.G. Glover squad which was coached by Avinel Rutherford and Kristy Bullard. H.O. Nash School took home the Technical Award; the Core Values Award was given to Abaco Central Primary; the Team Spirit Award went to C.H. Reeves. It was a win T.G. Glover coach Avinel Rutherford said made her feel good.
"This is our second year in the competition. Last year we did not do well, but the children were enthused and energetic about it, and we actually used what we learned last year and built on that this year. And this was the year for to shine, because the children worked so hard. They gave up their Saturdays, worked mid-term breaks, on the weekends, and were at school until 5-6 p.m. most days, so it made me feel good that they realized that if they worked hard at something they could achieve excellence," she said.
The theme for this year's competition was "Body Forward". The team comprised of fifth and sixth grade students had to conduct research on body parts, and select one part of the body to research. The TG. Glover students chose the skin and a problem that affects the skin -- ringworm, something they know about and that a lot of children in school get.
T.G. Glover's team members who are a part of the FOCUS group, learned last summer at FOCUS how to create a website, they utilized what they learned last summer to create a website as their project for the BLC. They researched ringworm, how to identify ringworm and how to cure ringworm. They found videos and YouTube clips and put them on their website which they shared with the entire school. This group of students was a special group of students. They are a part of the FOCUS group, and they are fifth and sixth grade students.
Last summer the students learned how to create a website, so one part of the competition was they had to create a project and they created a website, conducted research on ringworm, how to identify ringworm, how to cure ringworm. They found video and YouTube clips and put them on their website and we shared with their peers at school.
The second part of the challenge saw them having to build and program a robot to perform different tasks, including having the robot get the doctor from where he was stationed, and bring him to the base, and use a syringe. Unfortunately, unlike other winners in the past, the T.G. Glover team will not represent The Bahamas at the FIRST (for inspiration and recognition of science and technology) Lego League (FLL) as it is under new ownership, and as The Bahamas is not a partner, the BLC winner could not compete. The Bahamas played under Florida for the past two years.
BLC director Laurena Finlayson said she is working towards BLC becoming a partner for the next season that opens at the end of May. Once BLC becomes a partner Bahamian teams will be representing The Bahamas and won't have to play under Florida.
FLL introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities, and through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society. The mission of FLL is to provide opportunities for students to engage in fun-filled experiential learning that will result in the development of a love for science and technology. Through the challenge, it is hoped that students will develop their creativity and learn to value diversity in all of its dimensions, while building lifelong skills like team building, leadership and embracing change.
"Besides introducing them to science, technology and math, it helps with their literacy skills, because they have to write the programs for the robot. They have to do the research. The coaches are their to guide them, but the students have to do all of the work themselves -- the research for the project, for the theme for that year," said Finlayson.
"They have to put together a presentation for the judges, whether it be drama, Power point, art, however they feel fit, so along with literacy and math skills, we have found coaches in the past that have said they've seen a difference in their students. It also helps with some students who may have behavioral challenges, because the students and their parents have to sign a student contract saying they will follow the guidelines of FIRST Lego League, being on their best behavior at all times. If they break the contract they can be asked to leave the team or the day of the tournament at any given time."
FIRST Lego League in The Bahamas is for fourth through eighth grade-aged students. There is also a Junior FIRST Lego League for students who are kindergarten aged through third grade, Robotics for those in ninth through twelfth grades.
Teams consist of a minimum of five, maximum of 10 children. Participating teams do not have to be a team from a school, it can be a team from a community, a family, church, whomever.
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