More than 450 primary school students made their mark with impressive creations at the First Lego League Regional Final. This exhilarating congregation happened on the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Culdrose base in Helston. The theme of this year’s competition focused on the field of archaeology. It motivated students to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with thrilling, immersive learning experiences.
Throughout the event, students constructed and coded Lego robots to traverse and accomplish different missions on a competition tabletop. The experience provided them with an opportunity to put their coding knowledge to work all while building camaraderie and teamwork among peers. More notably, the positivity of participants such as Elowyn was palpable when she declared her excitement for the event, saying,
“It’s a great experience for kids our age because you’re learning and still having fun.”
The competition offers an essential stage for budding young minds. It helps them cultivate skills that are increasingly in demand in our technology-oriented society. Felicity Blight, the school secretary at Porthleven School, emphasized the significance of the event:
“It really builds on their STEM learning, they get to do a lot of coding and a lot of teamwork.”
The mood in the room was electric as students from almost every school in the region competed. URBANfuture mentor and co-creator George Slater welcomed the fierce determination from the youth to make change happening. He noted that while the robots did not always function perfectly, the children displayed resilience in overcoming challenges:
“The robots are not perfect, they will go wrong and they do go wrong, but the children get through that and persevere.”
The competition is a celebration of technical ability, but it goes beyond that to inspire artistic expression, innovation, and critical thinking. Cllr George Thorpe, from South West, added that these events played a crucial role in developing the engineers of the future. He was personally impressed by the energy levels of participants, as they excitedly immersed themselves into deep and intricate coding challenges.
As students contentedly worked through their missions, it quickly became apparent that STEM was their middle name. The whole day blended fun with learning, guiding the next generation of innovators to spark that necessary confidence in their skills. This year’s Lego League Regional Final at RNAS Culdrose was a huge success. It’s just one more example of how engaging STEM programming can ignite and uplift the innovators of the future.