Middle schoolers converge in Capitol rotunda for robotics and biomedical Competition

Intro:	Dozens of middle schoolers converged in the Capitol rotunda Thursday, equipped with robots and health research.
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OutCue:	SOC

Wrap:

Actuality:	CHEERING.WAV
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Description: cheering cheering

Fourteen specially-chosen robotics teams from around Missouri faced off their homemade robots in a battle different from the kind of battles by lawmakers just two floors above.

The First Lego League met at the Capitol for the second time in an attempt to inform Missouri lawmakers of what the youth generation is capable of.

Program coordinator Anna Simmons, with the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering, says having the event at the Capitol is significant.

Actuality:	SIMMONS2.WAV
Run Time:	00:12
Description: "It gives us an opportunity to kind of put this in front of the Senators and state Representatives and say this is what is happening with our kids, and this is what we are doing in the stem fields."

In a two-part competition, the teams built robots to compete, as well as presentations about this year's topic called Body Forward.

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Description: robots zooming and announcer announcing

St. Louis County Wildwood eighth grader Jordan Pack says his team researched and problem solved stroke intervention.

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Description: "We came up with a solution using microbots and nanobots to stop a stroke while it's happening, and then restore the brain to better function once the stroke's over."

Pack's sixth-grade sister Jamie accompanies her older brother on team Phantom of the LEGOs.

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Description: "We came up with body parts, and we came up with what can go wrong in those body parts, and then we kind of narrowed it down from there."

Simmons says the competition targets middle schoolers because it is important to steer kids toward pursuing science careers.

Actuality:	SIMMONS4.WAV
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Description: "We've got to get them while they're young. And sixth grade is when girls usually lose interest in math. Anything in the engineering and math fields, they just back away from."

Parent Anne Marie Scott has a daughter at Holts Summit who participates in First Lego League.

Actuality:	ASCOTT.WAV
Run Time:	00:13
Description: "What I see this program being so phenomenally good at is the not stuffing your head with facts, but learning how to find problems and creatively problem solve."

Jordan Pack says he wants to be an engineer someday and that emphasis on science and technology in the classroom is essential to students his age.

Actuality:	JPACK2.WAV
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Description: "They're extremely important to learn in the schools because really, in the direction our country is going these days, it's going to be essential, and we need to learn it in our schools."

Debra Hollingsworth with AT&T and the Missouri Math and Science Coalition tells the kids the development of science and technology will depend on them.

Actuality:	HOLLINGS.WAV
Run Time:	00:13
Description: "You will be the Mark Zuckerbergs of the future. I know you're going to do great things because you realize math and science are the language of economic prosperity."

From the Missouri State Capitol, I'm Meghann Mollerus.

Intro:	Middle schoolers around Missouri brought robots and research to the crowded Capitol rotunda.
RunTime:	0:43
OutCue:	SOC

Wrap: Fourteen specially-chosen robotics teams in Missouri presented research about health and robotics.

In a different battle from what the state legislature is used to, teams challenged homemade lego robots in the middle of the Capitol rotunda.

First Lego League coordinator Anna Simmons, with the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering, says having the event at the Capitol is significant.

Actuality:	SIMMONS2.WAV
Run Time:	00:12
Description: "It gives us an opportunity to kind of put this in front of the senators and state representatives and say this is what is happening with our kids, and this is what we are doing in the stem fields."

This year marks the second year First Lego League demonstration has been at the Capitol.

From the Missouri State Capitol, I'm Meghann Mollerus.

Intro:	Robots swarmed the rotunda of Missouri's Capitol as middle schoolers showcased their science research and machines.
RunTime:	0:39
OutCue:	SOC

Wrap: Fourteen specially-chosen robotics teams in Missouri presented science posters and battled robots in the crowded rotunda.

Among competitors was St. Louis County Wildwood eighth grader Jordan Pack.

Actuality:	JPACK3.WAV
Run Time:	00:12
Description: "We came up with a solution using microbots and nanobots to stop a stroke while it's happening and then restore the brain to better function after a stroke's over."

Debra Hollingsworth with AT&T and the Missouri Math and Science Coalition told kids like Jordan that they could be the next Mark Zuckerbergs of the future, because they realize the importance of math and science.

From the Missouri State Capitol, I'm Meghann Mollerus.

Intro:	As legislators were in session battling bills, middle schoolers took over the rotunda at Missouri's Capitol to battle robots.
RunTime:	0:43
OutCue:	SOC

Wrap: Middle school robotics teams from around Missouri gathered to present body research and homemade LEGO devices.

Parent Anne Marie Scott of Holts Summit says her daughter has benefitted from taking part in the First Lego League competition's learning process.

Actuality:	ASCOTT.WAV
Run Time:	00:13
Description: "What I see this program being so phenomenally good at is not the stuffing your head with facts, but learning how to find problems and creatively problem solve."

From a lego set, each team built its own robot and faced it off among others in the middle of the Capitol rotunda.

All teams had a chance to tour the building and talk with legislators about their research.

From the Missouri State Capitol, I'm Meghann Mollerus.