Future creative minds will be competing this weekend in a Legos-based robotics tournament in Alexandria.
On Saturday, Dec. 15, more than 200 students age 9-16 from around west-central Minnesota, including the Alexandria lakes area, are expected to arrive at Discovery Middle School, where 26 teams will compete against each other in a regional tournament to display their skills in math, science and technology. Next month, winning teams will compete in a bigger sectional tournament.
Four of the teams are from the Douglas County area - Douglas County 4-H, Community Education from Alexandria Public Schools, Zion Lutheran Church and Glacial Hills in Glenwood.
The event is co-sponsored by the Douglas County 4-H program, which runs a Science Technology Engineering and Math program. According to organizers of the event, the goal of STEM is to address the critical need for both scientists and engineers.
During the robotics competition, students will seek to answer questions about the long-term effects of space travel, according to Steve Vrchota, coordinator of the event. All teams will be using a constructed Lego robot to score points in a robot-themed game. The objective is to get people and their cargo safely away from upcoming runaway satellites in less than two-and-a-half minutes.
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Vrchota, who is also director of Pope/Douglas Solid Waste Management, said that during practice, each student learns how to communicate effectively and work with each other.
"The kids learn a lot about engineering, math and science," he said. "Each of them learns how to problem solve as they construct the robot."
Meet the members
Brock Manderschied, 8, likes working with other kids and has an interest in problem solving. When he first joined robotics, he said, "I thought it was going to be different." He thought it would be just about building things with Legos and not about problem solving.
Manderschied's mother, Kristen, recalls him going to the neighbor's yard once and building a huge tire fort from old car tires. With helpful guidance from her, he gave the robotics program a chance and now has fun learning new things.
Another student, John Sandean, 12, also learned about the program from his mother. Since he describes himself as a hands-on type of person, this was a comfortable place for him to show his talents. His favorite assignment has been learning about the Lego robot and figuring out the correct turns to score the most points.
Sandean also said that the best part of practice is watching the robot run correct routes as a result of his team's efforts.
A third team member, Ashley Vogt, 13, likes programming and handling computers. During practice, she records numbers and route directions for the robot. While she sits on the computer and types out the numbers, Vogt communicates with her teammates in finding the best solution to direct the robot.
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Through the robotics program, the students have learned the concepts of communication and teamwork, which Vrchota said are needed skills that will help them down the road.
