Christian Central Academy wins LEGO competition
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Christian Central Academy students Michael Szymkowski and Mat Kitchen build the team's LEGO robot, which won first place at a recent regional competition.

The regional championship tournament had been a hard day for Christian Central Academy's team. They knew they hadn't performed their best, and when it came time to announce the winners, they weren't sure what to expect.

As the judge named the runners up, not naming the academy - the defending champions - hope dwindled. But to their surprise, they were once again the champions, screaming in response to the news.

It was the second year the school was named the winner of the Finger Lakes First LEGO League Tournament, held Dec. 9 at the University of Rochester. It was also only the second year the school had a team.

Competing against much larger schools, some with twice as many competitors, the five technologically minded students from CCA have made a name for themselves.

The team, "67 Racing Robots," had two returning team members, eighth-grader Dan Wrigglesworth and sixth-grader Zoe Bowman. Also on the team are Mike Szymkowski and Sara Kim, seventh grade, and Mat Kitchen, sixth grade.

"We were surprised, probably because we didn't think we did our best," Kitchen said.

But their surprise quickly turned to excitement. The team was awarded a yellow trophy, made out of LEGOs, of course.

The competition consists of building a LEGO robot that is computer-controlled. The team then programs it to complete obstacle courses, which are judged on time and efficiency. The robot, which has to fit into a 16-inch box, is programmed to push trees, trigger a coal car and other tasks.

If mistakes are made, such as spilling an oil barrel, the team loses points.

Bowman said the team scored 290 out of a possible 400 points. The course is only one of four parts of the competition. She said they excelled in their presentation of alternative energy, in which team members completed an energy audit of their school.

CCA performed well in the presentation category.

The judges praised the team's consistency.

"Their smooth-flowing project presentation contained well-thought-out recommendations researched from external experts," the judges stated. "Their robot went through several generations to become reliable and effective, using sensor-based programming. Congratulations to a small team that displays great all-around success."

Wrigglesworth said the success was truly a team effort.

"We all worked on it at different times for weeks. It just evolved," he said.

The team had also won a competition on Nov. 17 in Churchville. They recorded their best obstacle course score with 325.

Bowman and Wrigglesworth also competed last year in Atlanta, Ga. It was a three-day competition that drew 98 teams from around the world. They brought home a trophy for Team Alliance for their work with teams from Texas, Massachusetts and China.

Unfortunately, this year, through the use of a lottery system to determine which regions would be allowed to send their tournament champions to that international competition, the Finger Lakes Region was not chosen. Therefore, the team is unable to advance.

But team members are still enjoying their second regional championship, saying they are looking forward to defending their title next year.

The team was started by Bowman's father, Ross, who learned about the competition through work. He is a computer-aided design application engineer for Siemens.

He helped the school get the model and to form a team.

"They really hit it out of the park this year," he said. "To win two years running is not an easy task. After winning last year, the bar was set higher by the judges this year for our team. I'm extremely proud of them for all the hard work and all they learned this year about energy, robotics and programming."

Bowman said the main drive for his involvement is to give the pupils a real-world, fun opportunity to learn about science and technology.

"My hope is to spread the word about www.FIRST.org to the Williamsville middle schools so more kids in this area can compete," he added.

He practiced with the students after school for weeks leading up the competitions.

CCA bested 35 other teams from Buffalo, Lockport, Rochester, Syracuse and the Southern Tier to win their award.