WHAT: Creativity and science come together at the FIRST® LEGO® League TRASH TREK season kickoff event at the University of Rochester. More than 150 teams from the region will be introduced to local experts’ efforts to recycle. Teams are expected from Buffalo, Corning, Horseheads, Ithaca, Penfield, Pittsford, Syracuse, Victor, Webster and others.
WHEN/WHERE: Saturday, Sept. 12 from noon-4 p.m. at Goergen Hall on the University of Rochester’s River campus. The event is free and open to the public. Parking also is free.
ABOUT THE EVENT: The program is for children ages 9-16, and there is a junior program for those 6-8. They work with adult mentors to design, build and program autonomous robots and explore what can be done with materials that otherwise would go to the landfill.
This marks the beginning of a nine week-long “build season”, where teams work on recycling projects and LEGO robots. FLL competition is judged in four areas: project presentation, robot performance, technical design and programming of the robot, and teamwork.
HISTORY: FIRST LEGO League is an international program created in 1998 to get children excited about science and technology and teach them valuable career and life skills. More than 23,000 teams in 80-plus countries compete in hundreds of tournaments each year.
PARTICIPATING EXPERTS: Kim DePrez from Rochester Greenovation; Drew Smith from the Monroe County Water Authority Eco-Park; Katy Duggen-Haas from Modern Corporation, Inc.; and the University of Rochester student group Eco-Reps.
ON-SITE MEDIA CONTACTS: Jordan Clark-Mand from FIRST AmeriCorps Vista (mobile: 206-707-4828) and Christina Pero from the University of Rochester’s Event & Classroom Management (mobile: 585-727-1358).