The Shady Side Academy Junior and Middle School Robotics teams competed in the Western Pennsylvania FIRST Lego League (FLL) Grand Championship, held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 6-7, 2017, at LaRoche College in McCandless.

Twenty-three Middle School students designed, built and programmed a Lego EV3 robot to complete several FLL challenges. Teams also completed a research project and completed teamwork activities. The Middle School Blue Team was awarded a second-place trophy for their project and the Middle School Gold Team was awarded a second-place trophy for teamwork. The Middle School robotics team is coached by faculty members Matt Brunner and Rhett Jenkins.

The Junior School team, coached by faculty member Jeff McCarroll, also enjoyed competing in the championship, guiding the LEGO robots they designed and programmed through the various FLL "Animal Allies" missions.

The FIRST LEGO League introduces students in grades 4-8 to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society. To learn more, visit www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll or www.pafll.com.

Congratulations to all of the students and coaches!