FIRST® LEGO League Qualifiers are Set to Begin Across Long Island

Organization Shares Excitement Over the HYDRO DYNAMICS^SM Challenge

Students from across Long Island are set to dive into a series of FIRST^® LEGO^® League Qualifiers – presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) – starting this weekend. Students (ages nine to 14) and their mentors from the program have worked hard to research, design, build, program and test LEGO robots that will best address the “Challenge” set forth in FIRST HYDRO DYNAMICS^SM.

For this challenge, students were tasked with identifying a problem within the human water cycle and finding a solution to the problem. Examples might include something as simple as quenching one’s thirst or swimming in a pool, or as complicated as how water is used to produce food, energy and even technology, among other things. Once a problem was identified, the students then evaluated current solutions and subsequently designed, built and tested an innovative solution, using a LEGO MINDSTORMS^® kit, that adds value to society.

The students will then present the solution during one of six different Qualifier tournaments being held as follows:

Great Hollow Middle School

Saturday, January 20 | 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Saturday, January 20 | 1 to 6 p.m.

Sunday, January 21 | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Mineola High School

Saturday, February 3 | 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Saturday, February 3 | 1 to 6 p.m.

Sunday, February 4 | 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Teams competing in the aforementioned events will then earn the opportunity to subsequently advance to the SBPLI FIRST LEGO League Championship tournament at Longwood High School on Sunday, March 4.

For more information on SBPLI and the FIRST Long Island complement of programs, or to become a sponsor, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

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About FIRST^®  
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $30 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST^® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST^® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST^® LEGO^® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST^® LEGO^® League Jr. for Grades K-4. Gracious Professionalism^® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.firstinspires.org.

About School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc.
School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) is a fully volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses. His goal was to provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce, which resulted in the formation of over 100 partnerships. In 1999, SBPLI brought the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to Long Island, which featured just eight FIRST Robotics Competition high school teams. Since then, the Long Island Regional FIRSTRobotics Competition has grown to over 50 teams competing each year. SBPLI also hosts Long Island’s annual FIRST LEGO League Qualifying and Championship Tournaments and the FIRST LEGO League Junior Expos, in which over 2,000 elementary and middle school students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties take part each year. In 2016, SBPLI added FIRST Tech Challenge to its roster of programs. For more information about the programs, or to learn how to become a sponsor, visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.