First LEGO winners

The Snackateers from Wildwood Academy, coached by Emily Reed, celebrate their 1st place victory at The Dalles FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Tournament on Dec 14, hosted by the Gorge Tech Alliance.

27 teams of students ages nine to 14 competed at the FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) robotics tournament over the last two Saturdays, Dec. 7 at the Hood River Middle School and Dec. 14 at The Dalles Middle School. Teams from as far away as Heppner and Irrigon joined local teams from Hood River, The Dalles, Goldendale, Mosier, Odell, Klickitat, Trout Lake and Stevenson, and the top 11 teams were chosen to advance to the state competition in January in Hillsboro.

League teams work over several months to design and program robots and complete a research project, this year on the theme of space. At the Gorge tournaments, teams demonstrate their robot’s capabilities on the competition table, are interviewed by a robot design panel, present their research project and are assessed on teamwork skills.