The Tri-Center 5th grade and Middle School First Lego League teams traveled to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa on January 17th.  The exciting weekend kicked off by a supportive send-off from the elementary students lining the ramp and cheering for the team as they headed out last Friday as school ended.  The 5th grade team, TC Blockheads, advanced to the state competition by placing amongst the top five teams at the regional qualifying event in Council Bluffs in December.  The team must present in four categories:  robot performance, community project presentation, robot design and demonstrate core values by working together as a team.  

This year the 5th graders partnered with a first grade class at Tri-Center to help develop a new way in which to use manipulatives and imagination for learning math story problems.  While at competition, the TC Blockheads robot performed at completing the designated challenges with some of their most consistent robot-run scores yet this season.  This is the second year for the TC Blockheads as a team and their first time advancing to the state competition.   The TC Blockheads team members are Tatum Carlson, Alex Corrin, Karis Corrin, Kyla Corrin, Michael Denning, Sierra Fox, Brecken Freeberg, and Olivia Matson.  Coached by Chris and Shiloh Corrin. 

The competition is held annually in Ames, Iowa in January, with similar events held worldwide.  This year in Iowa, 391 teams participated in 15 Regional Qualifier events across the state, 72 of which participated on January 17th for a great day of LEGO fun.