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Breakaway student mentors FLL team

As a first year mentor for the Mindsweepers, I had no idea what the FLL (First Lego League) season would hold. But as a Mindsweepers alum, I was so excited to coach the next generation of students in our robotics program! Every week for the entire first semester our coach, Brian Jones, three high school student mentors, and ten kids would all work hard together to try and do our best at competitions held in December and January.

FLL Qualifier

The first competition was the FLL Qualifier, hosted and run by Breakaway 3937 on December 14th. The nervous energy was all around as all 23 teams prepared for the Project/Robot Design judging rooms, the new Core Values pit judging, and the Robot Performance rounds. I was extremely proud of how the students held up under pressure and how each did their best to work together as a team.The Mindsweepers received the Robot Performance and Engineering Excellence Award award, which celebrates a well-designed robot and the Searcy FLL Qualifier 2020 event high score! Accepting this award also meant the Mindsweepers would advance to state in January.

The MindSweepers hanging out during freetime at a competition

State Championship

The Arkansas State FLL Championship is an amazing event, held this year on January 24-25. The students were so excited to drive up to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville (and most importantly, miss a day of school!). Friday, January 24th, is mostly a setup day, but there is a pizza party and the Robot Knockout Tournament. After eating some good pizza, we were all set for the brackett-style robot tournament. It all came down to two teams. The Mindsweepers were one of them. A nail-biting round later, the Mindsweepers won the Robot Knockout Tournament with a score of four hundred twenty points.

That Saturday was when the real hard work began. After an early breakfast call, we all piled on the bus and headed back to the University of Arkansas. After a lot of practicing, the students were ready for the judging room. The judging went so well! I could not ask for a better, more dedicated group of kids to work with. The Core Values pit interview also went super great. To end the day, there was an award ceremony. The Mindsweepers swept the Robot category with both first place in Robot Performance AND first in Robot Design!

The MindSweepers getting ready to present at the State Championship

Good Luck Next Year!

I could not be more proud of this amazing group of kids. I firmly believe that they have had just as much of an impact on me as I have had on them, and I look forward to keep mentoring the next generation of The Mindsweepers in the seasons to come!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!!!

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