Barrington-based robotics teams score at states

In only its second year with a competitive team, St. Luke’s School once again walked away from the state championship with more hardware this year. 

This year's team, which is comprised of four dedicated and hard-working seventh grade students, was awarded first prize in Core Values at the First LEGO League Rhode Island State Championship. The competition was held at Roger Williams University on Saturday, Jan. 11.

“I was almost more excited about placing first in the Core Values competition than in qualifying for the state finals,” said St. Luke's School Co-Coach and grade 6 teacher Pauline Noury. “We excelled in all 6 Core Values in order to win. They include: Inclusion, Impact, Innovation, Discovery, Teamwork and Fun. These are the same values and principles that drive our school every day, so we are extremely proud of this recognition.”

On Saturday the St. Luke's School team returned to Roger Williams University hoping to build off of their first-year success. With consistent scores in each of the three rounds their total score eclipsed last year’s total and propelled them to a 13th place finish out of 36 teams at this year's states.

“If it weren’t for a couple of unexpected mishaps, they could have eclipsed 300 points on 2 of their 3 competitive rounds," said St. Luke's School Co-Coach Peter Ferlazzo.

Members of the team said the highlight of their season came when they were awarded First Prize in the Teamwork portion of the all-important Core Values competition at the regional qualifying tournament and again at states.

“To be recognized for our outstanding work on the Core Values, at both the regional and state level, speaks volumes about how well and how diligently these four students worked together,” said Mrs. Noury.

As with most team and extra-curricular activities at St. Luke’s School, the students have incorporated a "service" element to their efforts. This week the team will have their second meeting with the Town of Barrington to review their recommendations relative to trying to make the public playground behind the Town Hall more handicap accessible.

The St. Luke's School robotics team has been working since the first week of school in August. 

Team Elements

Team Elements, a community team comprised of students from Barrington Middle School, celebrated some successes at the state competition on Saturday. 

Team Elements won the first place award in Robot Mechanical Design at First LEGO League Rhode Island Championship at Roger Williams University. Team Elements also finished sixth in the Robot Game portion of the competition.

Team Elements is a family/community team that features Neal Bansal, Harrison Barakos, Jonathan Currie, Jacob Dickstein, Nithya Guduru, Theja Guduru, Piper Kirkson, Landon Montecalvo and Dan Nguyen. Three parents of team members coach the group.

Team Elements won the first place Champions Award and first place in the "Robot Performance" category at a First LEGO League Rhode Island qualifying tournament at the Gordon School.

Team Wolfpack

Team Wolfpack, which includes Barrington boys Teddy Alessandro, Nick Clark, Owen Clark and Matthew Clegg, achieved their highest score at states in the robot game.

The accomplishment at the state finals followed an impressive showing at a qualifying tournament held at Portsmouth High School. 

The local community team drew inspiration from the new middle school while preparing for the robotics competitions. The boys worked on a solution for other schools in Rhode Island that are not as efficient as the new Barrington Middle School. The team spent between four and five hours each week preparing for the competition.