written by Kristen Maxwell, Bhutanese Kids Director
On Saturday December 13th our Bhutanese Leaders in Training program sent a team to compete in the FIRST Lego League regional tournament held at Wyandotte High School. The vision of the FIRST program is:
"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."
Participating in FIRST Lego League seemed like a natural connection for our Leaders in Training Program.
From August until the day of the tournament, the Lego League students had many things to accomplish. They were presented with two real world questions and were required to develop solutions:
- How do you better teach someone to learn something?
- How do you better teach someone to tie their shoes?
They also had to design, build and program a robot made of Legos to complete various tasks during the Robot Games. On day of the tournament they presented their project, robot and what they had learned during their participation in FIRST Lego League to a panel of judges without any coaches in the room. Throughout the day of the competition, adults/coaches were not allowed to even touch the robot or assist in troubleshooting any programming issues. The entire day was kid-driven and the adults were along for the ride!
Our expectations for this day were to have fun and learn more about what it meant to be a Lego League team. This experience exceeded these expectations and the whole process was so rewarding! When the day was finished, our Robot Game score put us right in the middle of the pack at 21 out of 40 teams. The judges’ review of our team’s presentations and projects were very positive, with over half being judged as “Accomplished” or “Exemplary”!
By far my favorite part of the day was seeing our kids and coaches represent Jesus in a context where they didn’t necessarily have to. They were encouraging to each other and to other teams - it was beautiful! The judge who focused on core values (team identity, spirit and student character) said, “these kids are very proud of Mission Adelante and very passionate about it.”
I am so grateful for the Kingdom leaders these kids are becoming as they face real world situations and problems that they will certainly see in their future!
PRAYER NEEDS:
- Several Nepali families have purchased homes this year. There’s a week-long party in our neighborhood to celebrate this and to bless the homes. Let’s thank God together that some families are thriving here and continue to lift up families that still struggle with unstable jobs and poor housing.
IMPORTANT DATES:
- Office Closed: Thursday, December 25-Thursday, January 1: Mission Adelante office closed. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!