Wish Charter To Host First® Lego® League World Class Qualifying Tournament

LOS ANGELES - Oct. 19, 2014 - PRLog -- WISH Charter will host the annual FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League (FLL®) World Class Qualifying Tournament.  Over 250 students, ages 9 to 16 from Southern California will be competing in this exciting event, which combines LEGO robots, teamwork and an energetic, tournament atmosphere to promote science, technology and innovation.  These students will put their engineering skills to the test to redesign how we gather knowledge and skills in the 21st century. Excitement will be electric, as team members motivate each other, parents cheer and the spectators watch the scoreboard. It’s a sporting event for the mind.

During FLL WORLD CLASS℠, teams will build, test, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS to solve a set of missions in the Robot Game. They will also choose and solve a real-world question in the Project. Teams will be judged on robot design, robot performance, project presentation, and Core Values.  Throughout their experience, teams will operate under the FLL signature set of Core Values.

FLL Introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society.

The robots are only one part of the FLL Championship. The teams will also compete for best robot design, best innovation project presentation and best overall teamwork awards. In addition, teams will be judged on their adherence to the FLL “Core Values,” which include “friendly competition” and “gracious professionalism

“We are very proud to host the annual FIRST® LEGO® League World Class Qualifying Tournament,” said Principal Shawna Draxton. “When we started organizing this event last summer, we knew it would be popular, but our expectations have been surpassed. I think that shows how many of our young students are creative problem solvers and enjoy technology challenges. We hope to foster that interest with this program.

Organizing the WISH’s first FLL Tournament is a collaborative effort by the entire community. Volunteer coaches include: Leila Hamidi, Director, Program Development at UCLA Architecture & Urban Design; Steve Glenn, founder and CEO of LivingHomes, LLC, founder and former CEO PeopleLink & idealab; Mick Ebeling television and commercial executive producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Katie Mills, Ph.D., USC Viterbi School of Engineering and others to be confirmed.