STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – What could get students out of bed early on a Saturday to play with LEGO?
At Henry Ford II High School, 40 regional robotics team packed the high school gym.
The students received no instructions. Just some LEGO bricks and a tablet for coding.
Utica Community Schools ThunderQuest is considered to be one of the state’s largest regional FIRST LEGO robotics competitions.
Students ages eight through 12 spend weeks crafting a robot to maneuver around a table to rack up points based on hitting specific targets. This year’s theme is “Submerged.”
They have two-and-a-half minutes on the clock to successful pass the course.
It doesn’t take long to see how well their robots will do.
“I feel like it’s really good because there’s going to be so many smart people in the future in engineering and stuff,” said Raina Cranson, 11, a competitor.
The hands-on project promotes coding, programming, and engineering which are all important STEM principles.
Yet, it also promotes a community for some of the region’s brightest young minds.
“It’s not just like sitting in coding -- all of it is so fun for them. They’re all learning to be positive and work together, how to take turns and how to encourage each other and lift each other so it’s just a great environment,” said Sejal Nandani, a parent.
Outside of this challenge, there’s also another program for younger kids where they explore the fundamentals of STEM.
