Hillside Robotics Club
LEGO LEAGUE
*** UPDATE: We have to limit the "Challenge" program to 30 students. As of Sunday Oct 15th, we have 25 students registered. After 30 students are registered, your student will be put on a waitlist, in case a registered student does not actually join. We will also give you the option to switch to "Explore". ***
If you want to update your registration submission, look in your email for a subject line "Hillside Robotics Club - REGISTRATION FORM". That email will have a link to "Edit Response".
Team up with other students to learn about design, problem solving and coding. Construct innovative solutions using a LEGO Education Robot.
- No previous coding/robotics/math experience necessary
- Low Cost (LCPS needs based waiver approved)
- LEGO Education builds upon Hillside Elementary's tech curriculum
Parent/Volunteer Driven
We are a 100% parent-based volunteer club. For your child to participate, it is required that you volunteer for your child's team.
The parent roles are:
- Team Manager (Help the KIDS stay on track to finish the challenge)
- Team Coordinator (Help the MANAGERS with meeting logistics)
- Club Planning Committee (Help run the Club Finances and Showcase Event logistics)
No robotics/technical experience is needed for any of the roles. All curriculum, lessons, and materials will be provided to you. Tom/Bhavan/Vijay will be available for help and will check-in to make sure you have everything you need for your team to be a success.
Registration
We are accepting students from 2nd grade to 5th grade. Please fill out the google form to register. If you have more than one child this is participating, please fill out a separate form for each child.
REGISTRATION CLOSES OCTOBER 20th.
Parent Information Session
We will be hosting a "Parent Information Session" via Zoom on October 16th - Time TBD. We have put all of the essential information on this page.
We hosted a "Parent Information Session" on September 28th. You can watch the zoom recording here (1 hour 10 mins), but watching it is optional if you read the info below OR join the upcoming session on October 16th.
About the Program
When do the kids meet?
Teams will meet once a week, for 12 weeks. Starting in November and going until February (with breaks for holidays).
When you register, there is a section where you tell us what days/times work best for you. We will use that information to organize teams based on weekly availability.
How much does it cost?
We are working hard to keep costs very low. This is a parent-led club, so any costs are for materials and registering with the "FIRST Inspires" organization. We think it will cost between $50 - $100 per student. More information will be available when we determine how many students will be participating.
Principal Mills said this cost would be pre-approved for a LCPS needs based waiver.
How big are the teams?
Team size will depend on which program your child is in:
- "Explore": 6 students per team (max)
- "Challenge": 10 students per team (max)
Should my child do Explore or Challenge?
The age ranges for the two programs overlap and should be thought of as rough guidelines. It's totally up to you which program you think is best for your child.
"LEGO League Explore" is designed for students from 6 years old - 9 years old. It is a fun introduction to research and coding. Students will solve a problem using LEGO Education robotics kit. Each student receives an engineering notebook to document their learnings. At the end of the program, teams will create a poster to demonstrate how they worked together as a team, explain their research and their solution.
"LEGO League Challenge" is designed for students from 9 years old - 16 years old. Teams will participate in a life skills robotics based competition. Teams will design, build and code an autonomous robot to solve 16 different missions, which will be scored by judges in a Robot Game. There will be an Innovation Project where the students will learn about a real life problem and propose an engineering solution.
Both programs will have an event at the end of the program. More details on this will come soon.