SMLCA wins Teamwork trophy at state competition

Nine students from the Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy (SMLCA), who last month earned two trophies in a regional competition and the chance to compete in the state finals of the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competition, brought home another trophy - this time from the state championship in Richmond.

The SMLCA students took first place in the Teamwork category of the competition, which included 38 teams. More than 90 teams from across Virginia and Washington, D.C., participated in the overall competition.

"We had just five minutes to build a functioning LEGO machine from the bucket of parts we were given," said seventh-grader Andrew Caldwell"And it had to accomplish an assigned task within that time."

The team created its solution under close supervision of judges, who were watching for orderly and inclusive team dynamics.

"Nine was a very large group," said SMLCA's mathematics teacher Sharon Sicher, one of two team coaches. "Impressing the judges with how everyone was involved in understanding the problem and designing and constructing a solution was harder for us than for the typical team of four or five."

Even after their LEGO creation success, the students were debriefed on the problem-solving process they had used. Judges also carefully reviewed the scrapbook the team had prepared documenting the research project work that helped them earn a slot at the state competition. On Saturday afternoon, the students presented a skit that explained their research project.

"This was our first year to participate, and the kids had a lot to learn. We were excited that they did so well in the regional runoffs," said SMLCA Principal Cris Perdue, one of the coaches. "But to come away from states with the one teamwork trophy ... that was a real accomplishment."

The coaches said that preparation for the state competition had focused on improving team problem-solving, which they said they believed was the students' weakest category at regionals three weeks earlier.

"When their allotted five minutes began, no one touched anything until everyone had agreed on the assigned task," Sicher said. "They solicited everyone's ideas for a solution and then confirmed full agreement to the chosen approach. We coaches looked at each other and said, 'Can this be the same group of kids we started with?'"

In announcing the Teamwork winner at the awards ceremony, the FLL representative said, in part: "This team's genuine approach to teamwork blew the scores off the charts."