Tartans Win Innovation Award at FIRST Lego League Southern California Championships

Two St. Margaret’s teams totaling 11 students took part in the FIRST Lego League Southern California Championships at Legoland in Carlsbad.

 

Out of 54 participating teams, the grade 7 “Tactical Tartans” team won first place for “Innovative Solution” in the Innovation Product category, which puts them in consideration for the Lego League World Championships. Their challenge was to identity a problem in their local community and design an innovative solution. The team designed a modern emergency callbox for local beaches that do not have lifeguards. The system is solar powered and provides not only access to emergency response services, but also has a complex camera system that can identify potential life threatening situations and call the fire department.

 

The Tactical Tartans included Ian Ekvall, Will Viola, Soren Olsen, Jackson Collins, Vaughn Bosu and Drew Otto.

 

Also representing St. Margaret’s at the Southern California Championships was the “Tartan Technicians” which included Kasra Haghighat, Drew Ghandehari, James Gianulias, Gavin Shams and Ross Johnson.

 

The FIRST Lego League program is designed to introduced STEAM components and explore real-world challenges through the use of Lego Robots. Students met weekly as a 7^th grade robotics elective and after school to work on their challenges.