Thanks to a motivated volunteer leader in the Greene County 4-H Robotics project named Matt Krueger and his consulting company, Reliance Systems, there is now a FIRST Lego League (FLL) team in Springfield preparing its members for the 2010 Body Forward Challenge. The FLL team meets every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Springfield Midtown Carnegie Library, 397 E. Central St.

FLL--created through a partnership between FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and The LEGO Group-hopes to inspire future scientists and engineers. Team members learn teamwork skills, build self-confidence and knowledge, research challenges facing todays scientists, learn to design and build robots, and get to represent their communities in competitions. Teams range in size from 3 to 10 and ages 9-14. To be eligible for this year's challenge, a child cannot have been older than 14 on January 1, 2010.

The team will meet weekly through the first week of March 2011. FLL Regional 'Rumbles' will be held Dec. 4, 2010, and Jan. 15, 2011. The FLL tournament is Feb. 28, 2011. Both the 'rumbles' and the tournament are held near Kansas City.

For more information, contact Krueger at (312) 261-5512 or Velynda Cameron, the 4-H youth development specialist with University of Missouri Extension in Greene County. A video of the Greene County 4-H robotics team can be found online here.

Go Back