Milford LEGO Robotics Team Battling For World Championship Needs Your Help

Written by Milford Public Schools Spokeswoman Kathy Bonetti,

MILFORD – On April 26-29, 2017, the LEGO Robotics team "Lightspeed" from Milford, CT, will advance to the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Championship at the Americas Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The FLL World Championship will include teams from 37 states and more than 20 countries. Only one team from Connecticut is invited to the World Championship (every other year).

Team Lightspeed, composed of 4 students (6th & 7th grade) from the Milford Public School's Enrichment Program, received a Champions Award at the State level (out of more than 180 teams in Connecticut). This is the team’s second year participating in the FIRST Lego League and they have tallied up many accomplishments in this short time.

In the 2016-2017 season they have earned: First Place Robot Design, FLL Connecticut Qualifying event; Highest Score in Robot Performance, FLL Connecticut Qualifying event; “Golden Ticket” to participate in Connecticut State Championships; Outstanding Teamwork Award, Connecticut State Championships; Champions Award, Connecticut State Championships, with guaranteed advancement to a World or US Open Championship.

A fundraising page has been set up to help team Lightspeed be a part of this amazing opportunity to represent both Milford and the State of Connecticut in the FIRST LEGO League World Championship: https://www.gofundme.com/first-Lego-league-team-Lightspeed. Donations will go directly to the registration cost (over $1,000 per team) and competition materials. (To sign up for Milford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

At press time, the team learned that the Milford Education Foundation had just donated $400 toward the costs associated with this team’s competition in April.

If you would like to contact the team or donate/sponsor directly, contact Coaches Amy and Michael at TeamLightspeedFLL@gmail.com

What is FLL?

FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

FIRST is a non-profit organization dedicated to the exploration of science and technology. The group aspires to transform culture by making science, math, engineering, and technology ‘cool.’ Students at this level are asked to build and then work with a small LEGO robot that they learn to program. In addition to robotic tasks, the students conduct a research project in answer to an annual question, posed by FLL officials. The final component of FLL is the concept of core values, which emphasizes teamwork and attitude. Students participate in a team exercise, observed by a panel of judges, and are also evaluated throughout the tournament. Over 29,000 teams participated in this year’s FLL competition.

Photo: Milford FIRST LEGO League team “Lightspeed” during the FLL Connecticut State Qualifying Event on November 19, 2016, in Shelton, CT.

FIRST Lego League: http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll