Challenge Corps teams excel in regional competition

WOODSTOCK – Three Northwood Middle School Challenge Corps teams have earned the right to advance to the Illinois State competition of the FIRST LEGO League in January. 

The FIRST LEGO League is a global robotics program designed to inspire enthusiasm for discovery, science and technology among students age 9 to 14. At the regional robotics competition held on Dec. 3 in Harvard, Northwood team the “Corn Stalkers” won the tournament’s top honor and were presented with the Champions Award. Teams “Apple Sighters” and “Hangin With My Peeps” also had impressive scores and like the Corn Stalkers, will advance to State competition.

The theme of this year’s competition was “Food Factor Challenge: Keeping Food Safe.” Participants are given a challenge related to a real-world problem and are expected to research and propose a solution to the problem. In a competition format, they then present their research and solutions and demonstrate an autonomous robot that they have built and programmed to traverse an obstacle course. This year’s teams explored the topic of food safety, examining possible opportunities for contamination and finding ways to prevent or combat the contaminants.

Three Creekside Middle School teams also had an outstanding showing and received trophies and recognition for scoring the highest in three out of four categories judged at the competition. The “Egg Heads” scored the highest in the category of robotic missions completed. Team “Up Beets” had the high score in robotic technical design, and the “Red Hot Chili Peppers” received the highest score in the Core Values category and took home the Teamwork trophy.

The Illinois State Tournament will be Jan. 20-21 in Arlington Heights.

Northwood Middle School team members are: The Corn Stalkers: Bella Biwer, Anna Gabrielson, Kari Gartzke, Tim Kempster, Anicca Mackay-Slavin, Gwen Paulsen, Julia Slomski and John Stevens. Hangin With My Peeps: Zac Emricson, Connor Freeman, Joey Haynes, Tony Killam, Luke Moors, Adam Tooke and Justin Wesolek.  The Apple Sighters: Joey Albertz, Garret Boyle, Madeleine Emmons, Noah Johnson, Avery Keesee, Jacob Varys and Oliva Vepley. 

Creekside Middle School team members are: Egg Heads: Austin Ash, Sean Doyle, Breanna Funk, Andrew Gippert, Carter Hansen, Maddie Heidtke, Mariana Kostova, Faith Roskens and Alex Williams.  Up Beets: Miguel Alvarez, Ryan Baier, Parker Burton, Brian Chang, Ben Detwiler, Tim Larson, Patrick McGrath, Jackson Nielsen and Brian Peiffer.  Red Hot Chili Peppers: Riley Child, Tess Devinger, Matt DiPano, Martin Halilaj, Lizzy Kruse, Natalia Olivas, Spencer Stumpff and Maclain Thornton.