Oak Ridge Today

JMS Atomic Eagles win Rising Star award at Razorback Invitational

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JMS Atomic Eagles at Razorback Invitational

The Jefferson Middle School Atomic Eagles, a FIRST LEGO League team, are pictured above at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from May 14-17. (Photo by Yvonne Dalschen)

 

The Atomic Eagles, a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team from Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, received the Rising Star award at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on May 14-17.

This competition hosted 72 FLL teams from around the world. Thirteen different nations and 31 different states were represented.

The Rising Star award is given to the team that the judges notice and expect great things from in the future.

Thomas Proffen, the team mentor, received the second-place adult mentor award. This award goes to the mentor whose wisdom, guidance, and devotion are most clearly evident in the team’s discussion with the judges. He has been volunteering with the Atomic Eagles since 2013, when Lego League was restarted at Jefferson Middle School by coaches Janie and Harold Shanafield. Proffen is the director of the Neutron Data Analysis and Visualization Division in the Neutron Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Education Foundation grants support robotics, Lego learning projects

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Jefferson Middle School Master Builders

Two members of the Jefferson Middle School Master Builders team are preparing their robot to solve missions at a FIRST Lego League mission table. (Photo by Yvonne Dalschen)

 

At Linden Elementary School, Lisa Buckner’s third-graders are building robots and Lego floats representing continents in a months-long project aimed at engaging them in learning, problem solving, and creative and critical thinking.

The 38 members of Oak Ridge High School’s Secret City Robotics team are solving real-world problems as they build and program a 120-pound robot to enter FIRST Robotics Competitions as an extra-curricular activity.

Teachers view robots and Lego sets as tools giving Oak Ridge students opportunities to collaborate, design, build, and solve problems as they learn engineering, science, and technology skills, both inside and outside the classroom.

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation supported these activities with $18,700 in grants last year to teachers at the Oak Ridge High School, Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools, and Linden Elementary School. The grants included a UT-Battelle donation of $10,000 directed to FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Lego League teams, all extra-curricular programs at the high school and middle schools. [Read more…]