Official Kids Mag

By Karen Rice Official Kids Mag Hey kids, if you like building with LEGO ® there's a great experience you might not know about, and don't want to miss. It's called FIRST ® LEGO ® League, and it's a way to learn cool stuff while having fun and working as part of a team. FIRST ® LEGO ® League introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to kids like you (ages 4-16) with fun, exciting hands-on learning and a cool competition. You'll learn how to solve real-world problems and have a blast doing it. Plus, you'll make models using LEGO ® bricks. Even better, you'll actually compete against kids all around the world. Meanwhile you'll learn about teamwork, get confident and gain some really good learning habits that you can use in school and in life. Every year, there is a different challenge where teams solve a real-world problem. Think of it as your mission. You get to work (and play!) on a team with kids your age… researching, coming up with solutions, and building a robot to navigate your mission. Phil Shelhammer, franchise owner of Wize Computing Academy in Bentonville explains, "This is a massive competition in robotics, with the teams not only programming their robots to complete different challenges, but every year, they are challenged to creatively solve a problem— similar to Olympics of the Mind." For instance, last year's challenge was to come up with a way to use technology to get people to be more active. A team of students at Hellstern Middle School in Springdale decided they wanted to build an app to encourage their classmates and families to exercise more. They turned to Phil for help, since he was in the process of developing an app himself. He helped them think through how to create the app. Meanwhile that same team of kids programmed a robot to do things like make a treadmill spin, do pull-ups on a bar and other activities. They succeeded in encouraging other kids to get active, and even worked with their school to award prizes for working out at home. The teams can advance to compete at the state level and eventually the world level. The really cool thing about FIRST ® LEGO ® League is…you don't have to know about coding or programming or robotics! All skill levels are welcomed and needed, and the learning is part of the fun! how do you find a team? Start by asking your school. Many teams are school-based with a teacher who volunteers to coach, but not all schools have them. If your school doesn't have a team, you can still be part of the fun. Wize Computing Academy is going to run a couple of teams not assigned to schools this fall. The original Wize Academy franchise in Dallas has led First ® LEGO ® League teams for years. "What we think is missing are opportunities for kids who don't have a school teams," Phil says. "We have parents say 'this is cool but our school doesn't have this.' We hate to see kids who don't have a school team miss out. And it's all about what we embrace here at Wize…teamwork, hands-on learning, coding, robotics and STEM." Phil believes this program can give kids a good feeling, at a younger age, for building robots and friendly competition. The teams will form this fall to be ready for the 2021-2022 FIRST ® LEGO ® League Arkansas Championship Tournament, which will be held January 21-22, 2022, in the Arkansas Union on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas College of Engineering is even offering grants to help sponsor new teams. Your adult can find out more by talking to your school, visiting the Facebook page @ArkansasFIRSTLEGOLeague or emailing Tournament Director Richard Cassady at rcassady@firstpartners.org. Or, they can contact Phil Shelhammer at 479-312-8926 or email Info-NWA@wizeacademy.com fIrSt ® lego ® league: Learning about STEM…with LEGO ® ! www.officialkidsMag.com • SepteMber 2021 • 27

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