From their press release:
'AUGUSTA, Maine Maine Robotics hosted the tenth annual Maine FIRST
LEGO League Championship on Saturday, December 12, 2009. This year’s
theme is Smart Move and involves the teams learning about transportation
issues in their communities and around the world. Each team had defined
a transportation issue or problem, researched that topic, proposed a possible
solution, and reported their findings back to the community. The teams have
also been building and programming LEGO Robots to compete on a playing
field where they will need actuate a crash test vehicle, deliver a container of
people out onto the playing field, navigate around the course, drive onto a bridge,
and other transportation related missions.
This year’s competition at the Augusta Civic Center hosted 50 teams from around
Maine; total attendance for the day was 360 team members, aged 9 to 14, and
800 volunteers and spectators.
2009 FIRST LEGO League Champions Award Winners (cumulative award for the event)
First : 6 Chicks and a Dude from Jay (coach Rob Taylor)
Second : 2 BEE Determined from Farmington (coach Jan Roberts)
Third: Frog Squad from York (coaches Linda and Gerald Mac Kaman)
World Champinship Update!
On Saturday, April 17th at the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, the 6 Chics and a
Dude Jay Middle School LEGO League Team won the First Place Sharing Award.
This award recognizes the team for outstanding technique in sharing their presentation on
their research project with the judges . It also recognizes their dedication to sharing what
they have learned with others. The 6 Chics and a Dude shared their work with numerous
groups prior to attending the Festival at the Georgia Dome and World Congress Center.
They shared their knowledge on the dangers of distracted driving with representatives
Governor John Baldacci, District 87 Representative Paul Gilbert, Chair of the Maine
Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation Representative Edward J. Mazurek, the
Jay Selectmen, the Jay School Committee, the Jay - Livermore Falls Chamber of Commerce,
the Jay High School student body, a drivers education class, and Oprah Winfrey. They
collected signatures for Oprah Winfrey's No Phone Zone Pledge at events at the Otis Credit
Union, Androsscoggin Savings Bank, and Jay basketball games. They also developed a public
awareness campaign on distracted driving which included a distracted driving TV commercial,
a radio PSA podcast, and letters to the editors of local papers. They were featured on a
Newscenter 6 segment and in an article in the Lewiston Sun.
The 6 Chics and a Dude were one of 84 teams from 30 countries and 5 continents that were on
hand in Atlanta to compete in the World Festival LEGO League Competition. Each team was the
champion of its respective nation or state and the teams competed in 2 days of competition featuring
LEGO robots and project presentations on this year's theme, Smart Move. The first place Sharing
Award is a prestigious award and the team was given a trophy (made of LEGOs of course!) to
recognize their accomplishments.
