The Middle School Robotics team of TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas received awards as first-time participants in the FIRST FLL (First LEGO League) competition, held March 3 in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

Sixty-one teams from San Antonio and South Texas took part in the competition, which consisted of three interviews — Teamwork/Core Values, Robot/Program Design, and Research Project Presentation – and three rounds of robot competition. All teams designed, built, programmed and tested a robot. They also researched a real-world problem in the food industry, identifying the problem, creating a solution and developing a five-minute presentation about their findings.

TMI’s Team 365 – eighth-graders Hector Castillo, Joaquin Castillo, Sarah Dickie, Hollis Leonard, Ryan Vaughan and Grace Westerman – took home the FIRST Teamwork Award, given to “the team that accomplishes more as a whole than they do as individuals, through shared goals, strong communication, effective problem-solving and excellent time management.”

Team 366 members – seventh-graders Chad Harthan, Elizabeth Holmes, Matt Perz, JuliaGrace Walker and Grayson Walsh and eighth-grader Nick Sandoval – took home the third-place overall Champions Award, given to teams that scored well in all their interviews and did well on the robot runs.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. The FIRST family of robotics programs provides mentor-based guidance for teams of students from elementary through high school.