Lego League
FIRST Lego League is a younger competition for kids ages nine through fourteen. Metamora Grade School's team, the Metamora Monkey Wrenches, is a direct feeder for MARS/WARS. For the past couple years, team members on MarsWars work with the FLL team, hoping to get the eighth graders interested in joining robotics when they get to High School. FLL’s season's project was based primarily on two goals, the robot, built out of Lego EV3 kits, and a project. This years project was to improve a public space, and the Monkey Wrenches chose to improving crossing conditions on highway 116. They worked with the help of mentors from MARS/WARS, as well as people from around the community. They needed to apply for the grant, Safe Routes to School, to pay for IDOT’S, Illinois department of transportation refurbishment, and marking of the crosswalks along 116. As well as building, coding, and testing their lego machines, this whole competition is to teach the kids about teamwork, completing challenges, and give them an idea for robotics and their future in school and careers.