JAY — Two teams from Spruce Mountain Middle School competed at the Maine First Lego League Challenge State Championship Saturday, Feb. 3, in Brewer and each came home with an award.

“The teams did an amazing job at the competition,” advisor Nick Chouinard wrote in an email to the Livermore Falls Advertiser on Feb. 9. “They have worked hard since the beginning of the season working on an innovation project and on robot missions.”

Master Builders received the core values award. Team members were Marley Jarvis, Avery Cook, Maddox Ryder, Calli Colburn-Earle, and Austin Churchill.

“The Master Builders worked together and made a working app that would teach people how to play the drums in a fun and engaging way,” Chouinard noted.

Bad Piggies received the core values finalist award. Students on this team were Emmette Bowen, Eoghan Gochenour, Mason Knowles, and Isaac Leduc.

“For their innovation project the Bad Piggies created a system to teach people how to use 3D printers so more people could enjoy a hobby they were interested in,” Chouinard wrote.

“What I am most proud of the students for is their cooperation with the other teams,” he noted. “The students were nervous to talk to the other teams at first, but after a little bit they broke out of their shells and were walking up to every team, sharing ideas from their build and learning from the other teams and making new friends.”

In FIRST [For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology] LEGO League Challenge, teams build robots to complete missions associated with that year’s game, complete research on a problem related to the theme, develop a project that addresses the problem and give an oral presentation describing the project.

This year’s theme was Masterpiece. It dealt with the arts and how technology could be used to improve existing practices or in new and creative ways.

There were 26 teams competing at the state championship, which is sponsored by the Robotics Institute of Maine. Awards were presented to nine of them. A volunteer and coach/mentor were also recognized.

The teams showed great professionalism with the judges at the tables [where the robot games were played], Chouinard noted.

“At one point the judge gave them points they did not earn and they were honest and told the judge they hadn’t actually earned those points,” he continued. “It was this behavior that earned the teams the trophies for runner up and first place for core values.”