Umatilla 5th graders win the LEGO Motive Award
By Terry Murry on Thursday, December 21st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMATILLA – The McNary LEGO Monster Squad competed in their first-ever robotics competition recently and ended up bringing home the Motive Award from the FIRST LEGO League. The league describes the award as celebrating the team that embraces the culture o the league through team building, team spirit, and displayed enthusiasm.
The team is made up of seven fifth-grade students. They spent several weeks preparing for the robotics competition, programming their robot to complete four of the challenges. Even more nerve wracking, the team had to prepare a speech and create posters to present to the judges.
The McNary LEGO Monster Squad’s mentors, Anay Mendoza and Madison Finck, are excited to continue guiding and supporting students in their FIRST LEGO League adventures. The league is a part of an after-school class offered by the Umatilla School District’s STEAM academy.
Students participate in various hands-on learning classes including “Ready, Set, Engineer” at the elementary level and robotics and archery for middle school and high school levels.
