MEREDITH — The Inter-Lakes Elementary School FIRST LEGO League team, the Minion Bots, is heading to the New Hampshire State Championship after a strong performance at the North Country Qualifier in Whitefield on Nov. 22.
The team of fifth and sixth graders earned top marks in robot performance and their innovation project presentation and was awarded the tournament’s Core Values Champion Award, which celebrates teamwork, inclusion, discovery, and respect — key pillars of the FLL program. The Minion Bots also tied for third place overall at the event, which featured teams from across the northern part of the state.
This marks the first time Inter-Lakes has fielded an FLL competition team since before the COVID-19 pandemic, making the Minion Bots’ return to the competition field especially meaningful.
FIRST LEGO League is an international STEM education program for students aged 9-14 that combines robotics, real-world problem-solving, and team-based learning. Each season, teams design and program an autonomous LEGO robot to complete mission challenges on a themed field and research a problem related to the year’s theme.
This season's challenge, titled “First Age — Unearthed,” invited students to explore how people uncover and share hidden stories from the past. The Minion Bots focused their project on the dangers of cave exploration and the technologies that can help make it safer.
The team has been practicing twice a week after school with guidance from coaches, Meghan Theriault and Bill Kaik, both mentors for the Inter-Lakes High School robotics team, the LakerBots (Team 8046). Several LakerBots high school students also volunteered weekly as student mentors, helping the younger team members with programming, robot design, and teamwork.
In addition to the day’s competitive success, the Minion Bots made memories with other teams by dancing on the field and enjoying a day full of fun and celebration — hallmarks of the FIRST community.
The team will compete at the New Hampshire FLL State Championship on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Bedford High School, joining 50 of the state’s top teams.
For more information, visit interlakes.org.
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