Sheehan FIRST Lego League Team Earns Spot in State Championships

Sheehan's all 5th grade FIRST Lego League (FLL) team competed in the Quincy Qualifier Tournament on December 5th. Team members are Ben Adjami, Jack Jordanides, Anusha Manglik, Ryan Marten, Brett Middleton, Ben Ouellette, Nathan O'Hara and Jack Papetti.

Sheehan FIRST Lego League team holds Research Quality Award and Golden Ticket to the FLL State Championships. (Front: Ben Ouellette, Ben Adjami, Ryan Marten, Anusha Manglik Back: Jack Jordanides, Brett Middleton, Nathan O'Hara, Jack Papetti)

The Sheehan team won the award for best Research Quality for their project. The project they chose was to better link Westwood's two town centers for bikers. Research included a trip to the Lexington Minuteman Trail and an interview with Mr. Fallon, the engineer who designed the trail; a visit with Ryan Chin, an MIT PhD student in the Smart Cities group; two meetings with the Westwood Committee on Pedestrian and Bike Safety and some bike rides and hikes through the ways between our town centers.

Team members present their research to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee.

The team also competed in a series of robotics matches, was interviewed on their technical approach to solving robotics challenges and was judged on their teamwork.

Placing sixth, the Sheehan team qualified to compete in the FIRST Lego League State Championships held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on December 19. FIRST tournaments celebrate engineering, ingenuity and problem solving. Come cheer on the Sheehan team at this inspiring and fun event.

For additional information on FIRST, check out this WGBH documentary or visit the FIRST website.