Organization Shares Excitement Over the INTO ORBITSM Challenge
Students from across Long Island are set to blast off into a series of FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League Qualifiers – presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) – starting January 26, 2019. Students (ages nine to 14) and their mentors from the program have worked hard to research, design, build, program and test LEGO robots that will best address the challenge set forth in INTO ORBITSM.
For this challenge, teams will choose and solve a real-world problem faced by humans during long-duration space exploration within our sun’s solar system. They will also build, test, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® technology to solve a set of missions in the Robot Game. Throughout their experience, teams will operate under the FIRST signature set of Core Values, celebrating discovery, teamwork, and Gracious Professionalism®.
The students will then present the solution during one of six different Qualifier tournaments being held on the following dates and locations:
- Qualifiers 1-3: Saturday, January 26, 2019 (AM and PM) and Sunday, January 27, 2019 (AM) at Mineola High School, 10 Armstrong Road, Garden City Park, NY
- Qualifiers 4-6: Saturday, February 2, 2019 (AM and PM) and Sunday, February 3, 2019 (AM) at Huntington High School, 188 Oakwood Road, Huntington, NY
Teams competing in these events will then earn the opportunity to subsequently advance to the SBPLI FIRST LEGO League Championship tournament at Longwood High School at 100 Longwood Road, Middle Island, NY on Sunday, March 3, 2019.
This will be the 15th year that FIRST LEGO League has enabled students on Long Island to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through building and problem-solving. In addition, 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the SBPLI Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST’s history and long-lasting impact on Long Island will be honored at all events this year.
“The FIRST LEGO League students on Long Island have already been working diligently to identify real-life problems we face when travelling in space,” says Stephanie Stern, FIRST LEGO League Co-Director. “It’s amazing how passionate they are about finding a solution. It’s going to be really exciting to see what they devise when they present at the Qualifiers.”
For more information on SBPLI and the FIRST Long Island progression of programs, or to become a sponsor, please visit www.firstlongisland.org/
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About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $30 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST® LEGO® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. for Grades K-4. Gracious Professionalism® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST®, go to www.firstinspires.org.
About School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc.
School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) DBA FIRST® Long Island is a fully volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses. His goal was to provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce, which resulted in the formation of over 100 partnerships. In 1999, SBPLI brought FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to Long Island, which featured just eight FIRST® Robotics Competition high school teams. Since then, the Long Island Regional FIRST® Robotics Competition has grown to two events with over 80 teams competing each year. SBPLI also hosts Long Island’s annual FIRST® LEGO League Qualifying and Championship Tournaments and the FIRST® LEGO League Junior Expos, in which over 2,000 elementary and middle school students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties take part each year. In 2016, SBPLI added the FIRST® Tech Challenge to its roster of programs. For more information about the programs, or to learn how to become a sponsor, visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.
