Sayville Robotics Club Makes A Splash In Lego Competition

Sayville Middle School’s robotics team, the Junior Mechanical Animals, recently competed at the FIRST Lego League Challenge on February 8th at William Floyd High School. The team’s work earned them the Rising All-Star Award, which celebrates the team that judges most notice and expect great work from in the future.

Each year, teams competing in the FIRST Lego League Challenge are given a real-world challenge to focus on and research leading into competition. This year, that topic was “Submerged.” Students were tasked with exploring the layers of the ocean and to bring their findings and ideas to the surface as they “sea” into the future through robotics and coding.

Through exceptional teamwork and dedication, the Junior Mechanical Animals showcased their commitment to solving real-world problems through innovative solutions. The students utilized critical STEM abilities along with essential qualities for success such as creativity, resilience, and collaboration, to prepare them for future challenges.

For their final submission, students Dominick Allegrezza, James Costello, Cameron Dyckova, David Hernandez, Grant Kauter, and Aliannah Toomey spent countless hours programming their robot while working together and teaching one another new coding strategies as they went along. Maggie Beach, Shannon Farrell, James Huemmer, and Olivia Santarsiero worked tirelessly on a website addressing overfishing and how it is can negatively impact the environment. The team was supervised by advisors Tracy Toth and Danielle Chamberlain.

"To be recognized as a rising program in this competition is such an honor and something the students should be incredibly proud of, especially after all the hard work they’ve put in," said Ms. Toth. "Ms. Chamberlain and I are going to miss the departing eighth graders, but we cannot wait to see what the rest of the team comes up with next year!"

For more information on the Sayville Union Free School District, visit the district’s website at sayvilleschools.org. Happenings in the district can also be found on the district’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/saydistrictpr. #CaringAndLearning