Kyogle High School team recognised as ‘rising all stars’ in first entry of STEM-based Lego League

A group of North Coast school students have been recognised as “rising all stars” in a popular STEM-based national Lego competition. Find out more.

Kyogle High School students Lucas Marychurch, Xavier Mazouin, Ewan Wilkie, Michael Hawthrone.

A group of four students from a North Coast high school have been recognised as “rising all stars” at the first Lego League Challenge national competition held in Gladstone.

The year 8 students from Kyogle High School – Lucas Marychurch, Xavier Mazouin, Ewan Wilkie, and Michael Hawthrone – started Lego robotics during a project-based learning week earlier this year.

Deputy principal and coach Lee Boyd said the students loved the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) concept so much they wanted to compete.

“Since then the teams met for two hours a week to work on their robot and project for the competition,” Ms Boyd said.

Kyogle High School team members: Lucas Marychurch, Xavier Mazouin, Ewan Wilkie, Michael Hawthrone at the Coomera event.

Teams prepare all season to compete at regional tournaments, where judges provide valuable feedback on their robots, codes and inventions overall.

The final test of their work comes at the Robot Game table, where they race against the clock for a personal best score – and the chance to advance to a local championship.

“This year’s problem involved sharing the things you love to do with more people through technology, in particular the technologies used in the arts,” Ms Boyd said.

The team developed a virtual reality bike riding solution based on technologies used in the film and music industries.

Kyogle High School students Lucas Marychurch, Xavier Mazouin, Ewan Wilkie and Michael Hawthrone at the Gladstone challenge of Lego League.

“Last Saturday, our robotics team The Masterbuilders competed at the National North Competition in Gladstone,” Ms Boyd said.

She said the team qualified for the national competition at a regional competition held at Coomera on the Gold Coast the previous weekend.

“We drove to the national comp in our school bus on November 24, arriving around 5pm and competed at Chanel College Gladstone the next morning on the 25th,” Ms Boyd said.

The team’s robot named Fred was able to complete 10 “missions”, scoring a total of 240 points.

“The winning robot scored a whopping 395 points, however, the team was happy with Fred’s performance on the day,” Ms Boyd said.

Fred the Kyogle High School team robot.

Ms Boyd said the boys performed at an “exceptional” level, and their school chant was the loudest.

Three teams from the national competition have been invited to the international stage of the competition in Sydney next year.

The Masterbuilders were sadly not successful in being selected as one of three teams, but were awarded a “rising all stars” trophy, with judges noting they expected great things in future.