Our involvement with FIRST LEGO League (FLL) started when a group of college students from LAESA-SHPE felt it was necessary to inspire today’s youth to take interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) at an earlier age. They sought to target middle school students in order to create a strong pipeline of students interested in STEM fields from elementary school to college and beyond.
LAESA-SHPE members also recognized that FIRST LEGO League’s missions and objectives coincide with their own mission and objectives. In collaboration with organizations such as IEEE-CCNY, and SWE-CCNY, LAESA-SHPE developed a program similar to the FLL competitions that would contribute to the spread of science, technology and engineering among today’s youth.
The FIRST LEGO League tournament, later renamed the Manhattan FIRST Tournament (MFT), was intended to give local middle school students participating in the FIRST competitions the opportunity to get the needed practice before the official New York City Regional Tournament. MFT gave middle school students the chance to test out their LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ robots in an environment that closely resembled the New York City Regional Finals. The competition resembled a sporting event where children’s motivation and excitement are driven by science and technology.
The first MFT was held in a small class room in Steinman Hall with 8 middle schools in attendance. Now in its sixth year, the program and LAESA-SHPE are ready to take the next step in their involvement with FLL. This upcoming year The City College of New York will be hosting the official FLL Qualifier Tournament for the Borough of Manhattan. Along with the official Manhattan Qualifier, LAESA-SHPE will also host the Jr. FIRST LEGO League (Jr. FLL) research competition for students at the elementary school level.
This event is scheduled for January 16th, 2011. About 35 teams from FLL and 10 from Jr. FLL with students from schools throughout the NYC Region will attend. Approximately 300 competing students and 400 spectators are expected to turn out. This more than quadruples the amount that MFT has had in previous years.