Southborough MA – Trottier Middle school is getting creative with their after school activities with the First Lego League (FLL) Robotics Team in the fall and the Robotics Club in the spring.  Mrs. Folsom and Mrs. Reilly serve as co-advisers for the Trottier Robotics team. 

In the fall, the Robotics Team participated in the First Lego League (FLL) competition. The competitions were held at Algonquin and WPI, and the team competed against other schools in the area. This year’s main competition was on Saturday, December 7, 2019.  First Lego League presented a problem, and the teams created a solution to the real world problem. This year the theme was City Shapers. The question posed was, “What if you could build a better world? Where would you begin?” The Trottier team picked the flooding issue that plagues the Southborough Public Library.  They built a model of the library and designed two lightweight barriers that the librarians can move into place in the library parking lot. These barriers would prevent the rainwater from flooding the library basement. Each team must create a project and present it to professionals in the science and technology field.  In addition, they must build and program a Lego robot that can successfully carry out a series of tasks on a board, including building a tower, driving up a bridge, and pushing a swing. This year the FLL team won an award for outstanding teamwork. The team even created their team uniforms. Although the team did not advance to the state championship, a good time was held by all.

The Robotics club starts later in the year. It lasts from March to June, and all students are welcome to join; there is no limit.  It is an open/drop-in club. If you like to build with Legos, program the robots to do “BattleBots,” or just want to learn more about coding, the Robotics Club is the place for you.

Thanks to the principal, Mr. Lavoie, the Robotics Club and Team started 4 years ago. The reason why it all started is that Mr. Lavoie wanted to acknowledge the students who enjoy programming and working with constructing robots. When asked why she teaches it, Mrs. Folsom responded, “Because it is super fun!” Mrs. Folsom loves to teach robotics because she also likes to help educate kids who want to learn more about programming and operating with robots.  The club will start meeting this year at the beginning of March on Wednesdays.