Marvelous Misfits’ turn to shine: Linwood Elementary robotics team places at state competition

The Marvelous Misfits First Lego League team at Linwood Elementary was the only school in the Spokane Public Schools district to be represented at the recent Eastern Washington state finals competition held at Salk Middle School.

The First Lego League includes teams of students in grades 4-8 who must build a robot designed to perform specific tasks from scratch. There were 32 teams in the finals, and the Marvelous Misfits took fourth place overall. They won first place for their project presentation.

“It was the highest we’d ever scored,” said first-grade teacher Emily O’Halloran, who coaches the team. “It was great.”

There are two robotics teams at Linwood and students apply for the 20 spots available. “First Lego League at Linwood has always been a popular extracurricular activity,” O’Halloran said.

Quite a few of this year’s team members are returning from last year and several joined because older siblings were on a robotics team.

That’s how sixth-grader Madison Santiago got her start.

“My sister did it, and she said it was really fun,” Santiago said. “She encouraged me to try it. I like doing robotics. I really do learn a lot.”

Whether it was a family tradition or not, team members said they enjoyed the experience.

“It was really fun working on robotics,” said fifth-grader Paige Flett.

Students had 2 minutes, 30 seconds to make their robots do as many tasks as possible during the competition. Sixth-grader Eric Kerr and his sister, fourth-grader Hailie Kerr were the programmers at the table putting the robot through its paces. It was something they rehearsed a lot, even sometimes taking the robot home.

“It’s lots and lots of practice,” Eric Kerr said.

The students put in at least four hours every week from mid-September to mid-January, O’Halloran said.

“It really is a huge endeavor and requires a lot of time on the part of the team members, but also requires parent support,” she said.

The state competition wasn’t easy, said sixth-grader Tanner Johnson.

“It was a lot harder,” he said. “The judges had more expectations for us.”

The team was pleased they did so well, Eric Kerr said.

“Everyone was really excited,” he said. “Last year, we didn’t win any awards at state.”

Sometimes things don’t go right during a competition, O’Halloran said.

“The most successful teams are made of kids who can band together and try a new strategy, support each other in times of frustration and encourage each other to keep going,” she said.

Each year, students are also asked to complete a research project and present it to the judges. This year’s theme was “City Shaper,” and students were asked to find a problem with a building or public space and find a solution. The students researched how to help a disabled student access Pattison’s North roller-skating rink. They chose a unique way to present their project – they performed a news story skit, with the judges watching what appeared to be a news report about the issue.

“We wanted to try to show the judges and not tell the judges about the problem,” O’Halloran said.

Their innovative approach got them first place for project presentation.

The students also came up with their own name. They were considering a wide range of words they felt described them, and one student noted they sounded like a bunch of misfits. Then it was just a matter of finding the proper adjective to match. They were almost the Magical Misfits, but then settled on Marvelous Misfits.

Tanner Johnson designed the tie-dyed team shirts they all wear, which they accented with suspenders and glasses during the competition.

“We’re the team that stands out,” Johnson said. “We’re wacky and weird, and we’re proud of it.”