WINDHAM – More than 1,000 people cheered on 400 contestants, ages 9-16, at the annual FIRST LEGO League NH State Championship at Windham High School on Dec. 4. Team Hollis Thunder, from Hollis, won the first place Champion’s Award. This award qualified the team to represent New Hampshire at the 2018 World Championship to be held in Detroit, Mich., April 18-21. The second place Champion’s Award went to team Wisdom Hunters, from Nashua. The top teams won by embodying the program’s core values of teamwork and mutual respect, while achieving excellence and innovation in both a robot game and innovative project.

FIRST LEGO League is an international program for 9- to 16-year-old children, created in a

partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Group in 1998 to get children excited about science and technology – and teach them valuable career and life skills. Children work alongside adult mentors to design, build and program autonomous robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS and create an innovative solution to a problem as part of their research project.

This year’s challenge – HYDRO DYNAMICSSM – called for teams to research and present their own creative solutions to the real-world topic: water.

The competition is judged in three areas: Project; Robot Design and Core Values, which embody aspects of teamwork and good sportsmanship. Top robot game scores are also honored.

Other local teams receiving awards were:

FROM BEDFORD

Research Award given to Incredible Robotic Masterminds team.

FROM HOLLIS

First Place Champions Award and First Place Robot Performance Award given to Hollis Thunder team.

FROM LITCHFIELD

Inspiration Award given to Circuit Breakers team.

FROM MERRIMACK

Presentation Award given to Robot Rockstars team.

FROM MILFORD

Programming Award Award given to Mindstorms Mayhem team.

FROM NASHUA

Strategy and Innovation Award given to the AweSTEM team.

Gracious Professionalism Award given to RoboRangers team.

Second Place Champions Award given to Wisdom Hunters team.

FROM PETERBOROUGH

Teamwork Award given to Robotic Pumas team.