Bay View robotics team qualifies to compete in state championship

THE FOLLOWING students at St. Mary Academy Bay View will compete in the state FIRST Lego League championship in January at Roger Williams University. Back row, from left, Kristen Accinno, Elizabeth Ng, Emilie Lum, Isabella Heffernan and Wren Hager. Front row, from left, Maried Delgadillo, Lucy Bosch, Rylee Marin, Caroline Accinno and Emily Buchanan. / COURTESY LINDA GRASSO/ST. MARY ACADEMY BAY VIEW
THE FOLLOWING students at St. Mary Academy Bay View will compete in the state FIRST Lego League championship in January at Roger Williams University. Back row, from left, Kristen Accinno, Elizabeth Ng, Emilie Lum, Isabella Heffernan and Wren Hager. Front row, from left, Maried Delgadillo, Lucy Bosch, Rylee Marin, Caroline Accinno and Emily Buchanan. / COURTESY LINDA GRASSO/ST. MARY ACADEMY BAY VIEW

EAST PROVIDENCE – The only all-girls team to compete in the FIRST Lego League Qualifier Tournament has made it to the next level.

The St. Mary Academy Bay View Robotics Team (SMART) participated in the qualifier tournament at Narragansett Pier Middle School on Nov. 7, securing its spot at the state championship, which will be held in January at Roger Williams University.

The Bay View team also won the second place “Champions Award” at the qualifier tournament, according to information from Bay View.

Scoring is based on three parts: a research project, a robot game utilizing robots that each team builds and core values, such as how teams achieve their goals.

- Advertisement -

The overall competition theme is “Trash Trek,” and the challenge will be for teams to research how to make less trash or improve the way people handle trash, according to information from the school.

SMART’s research project focuses on encouraging major manufacturers to discontinue microbead use in facial cleansers, body washes and toothpastes. The news release from Bay View said that more than 370 tons of micro-plastics pollute oceans each year, and only nine states have banned the sale of products containing microbeads.

SMART presented a “Jeopardy”-style question-and-answer skit to the judges about environmental effects of microbeads. The team also presented a video of a classroom experiment showing that microbeads do not dissolve. The team also will ask state legislators to propose similar laws banning the sale of microbeads in Rhode Island.

SMART, under the direction of coach Linda Grasso, continues to prepare and improve on its robot’s performance for the championship competition.
Team members are: Wren Hager, of Bristol; Caroline and Kristen Accinno, and Emilie Lum, of Cranston; Rylee Marin, of East Providence; Elizabeth Ng, of Scituate; Lucy Bosch and Maried Delgadillo, Providence; and Emily Buchanan and Isabella Heffernan, Warwick.

No posts to display