B-P FIRST LEGO League teams shine at regional competitions, school showcase as program prepares to host FTC regional tournament

Broadalbin-Perth’s FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams had a strong showing at their recent regional competitions, demonstrating teamwork, resilience, and problem-solving skills.

The fourth-grade team, L.E.G.O. (Love Exploring Goofy Objects), competing for the first time, earned the Core Values Award at the qualifying tournament on Saturday, Jan. 31. The middle school team, the Coconuts, earned the Rising Star Award. Both teams advanced to the regional tournament at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where they competed on Saturday, Feb. 7.

“Even though they didn’t win any awards at regionals, I am beyond proud of these kids,” said B-P’s FLL coordinator Jill Becker. “The middle school team presented in a huge lecture hall, the likes of which they had never seen before, and although I could see they were nervous, they pushed on. The fourth-grade team did well in their presentation, despite the computer battery dying about halfway through. But they supported each other and had three great robot runs.”

Becker said both teams demonstrated exceptional perseverance and collaboration, setting a strong example for future program participants.

B-P’s fourth-grade team, L.E.G.O., consists of Oliver Renna, Sunny Becker, Charlotte Dority, Rocco Stevens, Duke Opalka, and Kyle Fetterly, and is coached by Alex Renna and Emily Opalka. The Coconuts consists of Alice Carter, Brewer Spence, Rigby Smathers, and Wesley Frasier, and the team is coached by Bill Hill and Bryan Spence.

The future of B-P’s FLL program was on display on Wednesday, Feb. 11, when second- and third-grade teams shared their projects and designs with their families and friends. The annual expo allowed teams to showcase their creativity, teamwork, and early engineering skills while celebrating their work from the season.

The program’s season continues on Saturday, Feb. 14, when Broadalbin-Perth will host 21 teams from across New York in a FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) regional competition at BPHS. FTC teams design, build, and program larger, more advanced robots to compete in head-to-head challenges, giving students hands-on experience in engineering, coding, and teamwork. At B-P’s tournament, participating teams will compete for the right to advance to the Excelsior Region Championship, which encompasses all of New York state except for New York City and Long Island. Although B-P does not have a team competing this year, the event is free and open to the public, so members of the community are encouraged to check out the action in person or via a live video stream at https://excelsiorny.org/.