Building blocks of success... Mercy Secondary School students are 'Lego League' champs

The 'Lego Legends' from St Joseph’s Mercy Secondary School in Navan, were crowned overall winners at this year's First Lego League Challenge Masterpiece Meath tournament which took place in The Ardboyne Hotel on Monday 19th February as part of the Meta funded STEAM Meath programme.

Lego Robots designed and built by 13 teams of young engineers from seven secondary schools across Co Meath battled it out for a place in the All Ireland Final which take place in Dublin on 23rd March.

This science and technology challenge, which is aimed at 11 - 16 year-olds, tasks teams to build a robot to tackle a series of missions, and to create an innovative solution to a real-world problem.

This year’s challenge asked teams to imagine innovative new ways to create and communicate art across the globe using technology while demonstrating their skills in robotics, computer programming, teamwork, research, problem solving and communication.

The Lego Legends team from St Joseph's Secondary School, coached by teachers Antoinette Pentony and Katie Buchanan, won the 'Robot Game' category as well as being named overall winners and now go forward to the All Ireland Finals.

The 'Innovation project' was won by Team ARES from Enfield Community College, and the school picked up the 'Core Values' prize which was won by Team Fiction Addiction. Both teams are coached by Emma Daniel and Padraig Keenan.

The 'Robot Design' category was won by Team Micro:Warriors from Boyne Community School, coached by Lorraine McDonald.

Supported by Meta, STEAM Meath aims to ignite creativity and transform learning in eleven primary schools and eight secondary schools across the county, and is being piloted as a three-year programme.

Students at the Meath schools have a fun opportunity to discover the world of STEAM and develop key life skills, including teamwork, innovation, collaboration, confidence and persistence, along with design thinking and programming skills, all through the use of a range of hands-on and engaging Lego Education resources.

Dublin-based, CreativeHUT, is the regional organiser of First Lego League in Ireland, and director Ross Maguire says the fun team-challenge inspires the new generation of budding scientists and engineers.

“First Lego League is a platform for students to discover the world of STEM and collaborate on real-world problems. These fantastic young people are taking the first steps to become tomorrow’s innovators, creators and problem solvers. The concepts of cooperation and competition combine.

“It’s the idea that, by working together, we all win. It is not about building robots, it’s about robots building people.”

Congratulating teams at the regional tournament Cllr Paul McCabe, Leas-Chathaoirleach of Meath County Council said: “I congratulate all of the teams on their wonderful performance and am delighted to see a STEAM education initiative that captivates the imagination and promotes critical thinking, teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving.

“I have no doubt that by participating in today’s tournament, these young people will be encouraged to consider STEAM subjects in higher education, thereby meeting the big demand for graduates in Ireland’s workforce.”

The annual robotics and creative thinking challenge is organised in the UK and Ireland by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).