Springdale FLL Qualifier

The first official competition for our FIRST Lego League teams is finally here. After months and months of hard work, these students finally get to show off the innovation projects and all the missions they have completed.

A few volunteers went to Don Tyson School of Innovation the night before to help set up for the event and also to drop off the tri-fold boards and projects for the teams. The next morning, the teams started bright and early to set up their pits and practice their presentations before either going to judging or heading off to their first matches.

It was a controlled chaos as all four teams completed judging and five matches sometimes competing at the same match. We had a slight mistake as the coaches forgot to check the rules updates before the competition and found that way the students were doing the "Raise the Mast" mission would not count for points. Not to fear, the students were able to work out the mission on the practice tables so that they were able to successfully do the mission about 50% of the time. Incredibly proud of the students for not letting this keep them down and for them working through this problem. The coaches and mentors also learned to double check the updates for future events!

After all the matches were completed, the closing ceremony began. While the TEK Center teams did not win any awards, Team 39705 Gator-Rads and Team 66278 Electric Technic did advance to the Arkansas State Championship Tournament in January.