2101 E. River Road | Tucson, AZ 85718
Phone: 520-209-7551 | Fax: 520-209-7575
Office Hours: 8:00am - 4:30pm
CARE: 520-209-7549
Travis Kolter
Director
Lego Robotics
What is FIRST Lego League
FIRST Lego League (FLL) introduces young people (grades 4-8), to the fun and excitement of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It is designed for students do the research and problem solving, which are integral parts of each element of STEM, to meet the yearly Challenge. Students identify a problem and develop an innovative solution.
There are three elements that make up the Challenge: 1. programming an autonomous robot (the Robot Game), 2. creating innovative solutions to a problem (the Project) 3. following the FLL Core Values where the children learn that helping one another and the spirit of friendly competition is the foundation of teamwork.
Each year’s Challenge is similar to real challenges faced by scientists and engineers, which leads to an understanding of the work of these professionals and an exposure to career options. The Project gives the teams the opportunity to more deeply explore the theme of the Challenge and propose a solution to a problem they select.
The teams present their projects for feedback from the judges, who often are experts in the Challenge field. FIRST Lego League imparts valuable life skills and excitement about how our students can make a difference in the world.
FIRST Lego League in CFSD
In Catalina Foothills School District, students who participate in FIRST Lego League (FLL) are afforded unique experiences involving a team approach to engineering, programming, problem solving, and research. FLL equips students with tools to be successful in a rapidly-evolving world. FLL presents students with real-world situations and challenges in which they develop their abilities to think critically, apply knowledge at high levels and use technology to access, evaluate and communicate information.
Led by Charlotte Ackerman, CFSD’s Teacher Leader for Science and Engineering, FLL team members work together over a 14-week session to address the current FLL mission and prepare for competition in December.
FIRST Lego League Lite
In the winter and spring months, students who have an interest in participating as an FLL team member in the following school year are encouraged to join FLL Lite. This enrichment experience gives students the opportunity to get a taste of FLL without making the commitment to the full 14-week program. They get to try the current school year’s FLL mission and build their skills for future competitions without actually stepping into the arena of competing.
FIRST Tech Challenge - Robotics/Engineering for high school students
Our rookie Community Schools High School FIRST TECH CHALLENGE TEAM, Pioneer 327, was recognized with the THINK AWARD and were runner up for the CONTROL AWARD in the Queen Creek Qualifying tournament. They also came in 4th out of 22 teams from AZ and California and qualified for the
State Tournament in February.
2018-2019 Challenge
INTO ORBIT
This year’s teams will design and program a LEGO Mindstorms robot to the accomplish tasks like mining an asteroid, building and supplying a space colony, and cleaning up space trash. They will also propose an innovative solution to a research question that will advance the human ability to live or work beyond Earth.
Congratulations! At the Arizona FIRST Lego League Championships at Arizona State University on January 19, the Intergalactic Sous Chefs(students from Orange Grove and Esperero) came in third place overall and won second place in the Robot Performance category.
The Manzanita Biofilm Busters Robotics Team was one of the youngest at State and out of 48 teams ended up with a top 10 robot score!
CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Teams for a successful Regional Tournament showing!
| Team 5154 Biofilm Busters (MZ) | School |
| 1st Place Research Project Award | |
| Aiden Zhou | MZ |
| Nathan Wu | MZ |
| Isaak Martin | MZ |
| Alex Lehrman | MZ |
| Matthew Meislin | MZ |
| Alexis Bates | MZ |
| Eli Hanna | MZ |
| Madison McCoy | MZ |
| Jake Brandt | MZ |
| Team 5151 Shooting Stars (SD) | |
| Avery Jaramillo | SD |
| Melvin Stubbs | SD |
| Kristophe Kalwies | SD |
| Jillian Hartshorne | SD |
| Rachel Chen | SD |
| Loki Martinez | SD |
| Tyler Lue | SD |
| Ryan Leu | SD |
| TEAM 27725 Second Nature (SD) | |
| Patrick Twomey | SD |
| Olivia Luff | SD |
| Basil Wood | SD |
| William Liu | SD |
| Edward Tsai | SD |
| Elizabeth Esquer | SD |
| Braedon Gracy | SD |
| Team 5152 Rubber Tech (CV and VV) | |
| Calvin Wright | CV |
| Gavin Hoose | CV |
| Tyler Lesniak | CV |
| Naja Taraskiewicz | CV |
| Kian McCandless | VV |
| Silas Bramblett | VV |
| Team 5153 Braingers (CV and VV) | |
| Ethan Lin | CV |
| Cody Raymond | CV |
| Benjamin McNeil | CV |
| Owen Cantor-Goldner | VV |
| Ian Huber | VV |
| Christian Pierson | VV |
| Alex Lewnes | VV |
| Team 5158 Transformers (OG and EC) | |
| 1st Place Judges Award | |
| Diana Zarif | OG |
| Bridgett Walters | OG |
| Violette Donnelly | OG |
| Casey Berk | OG |
| Maija Hildebrand | OG |
| Ingrid Benito | OG |
| Lily Wood | EC |
| Zoe Wung | EC |
| Sonia Swaroop | OG |
| Team 10906 Intergalactic Sous Shefs (OG and EC) | |
| 1st Place Champions Award | |
| JD Donnelly | OG |
| Cooper Kruk | OG |
| Sam Moreno | OG |
| Conner Bates | OG |
| Luke Sadalla | OG |
| Spencer Schiller | EC |
| Braden Cantor Goldner | EC |
| Bryan Zhang | EC |
| Team 5155 Cosmic Club (OG and EC) | |
| 1st Place Robot Performance | |
| Landon Chang | OG |
| Rory McQuire | OG |
| David Berk | OG |
| Justin Byun | OG |
| Josh Max | EC |
| Connor Belakovshy | EC |
| Reece Culliney | OC |
| Kaiden Kiracofe | OC |
| Team 5156 Gut Instinct (OG, EC, FH) | |
| 1st Place Core Values Award | |
| Jerry Barela | FH |
| Bhargav Ghosh | FH |
| Zak Gruber | OG |
| Josh Tint | FH |
| Noah Wellman | FH |
| Henry Bonomolo | EC |
| Seth Rojas | OG |
| Cyrus Zhang | EC |
| Sa’id Badereen | OG |
| Maxwell Palermo | EC |
| Staff Coaches | |
| Charlotte Ackerman | |
| Kelly Taylor | |
| Donna Fisher | |
| Melvin Stubbs | |
| Volunteer Coaches | |
| Mark Haye | |
| Eugene Vamos | |
| CFHS High School Mentors | |
| Nik Gruber | |
| Michael Gross | |
| Jeremy Wang | |
| Sean Bergan | |
| Parent Mentors | |
| Gregg Cantor-Goldner | |
| Sarah Esquer | |
| Lukas Gruber | |
| Michael Kruk | |
| Aaron Bates |