Two South Mountain Elementary Teams participate in Lego Robotics Tournament; the SomoRobo team advances to State Finals

Seventeen 5th graders from South Mountain Elementary (comprising two teams - SomoRobo and Brainbots) competed in the First Lego League Robotics tournament yesterday in Bridgewater at Milltown Primary School. The competition included students from around the state in grades 4th through 8th. The children were not only judged on how well and how fast their robots completed certain missions, but also on core values (teamwork and gracious professionalism) and their research and solutions with respect to this year's theme, which was helping seniors ("Senior Solutions").

Both South Mountain teams did wonderfully, with Somorobo qualifying for the state championship (next weekend in Mount Olive) by being one of the top 5 teams (out of 19) to score at least 40% in all three areas (robot design, core values, and project). SomoRobo's idea for the invention of the "Forget-Me-Not" also won the award for the Best innovative Solution. The "Forget-Me'Not" is a creative device that repurposes an i-pad type tablet and uses GPS technology to help seniors who have difficulty with memory loss.

Brainbots was coached by Larry Boyer (with assistance from Crystal Glynn). SomoRobo was coached by Jamie Goldman (with assistance from Priscilla Goldman, Eyal Ben-Ari, and Randi Mandelbaum).

A big congratulations to all and good luck next week!