​Gizmos Preparing for Waffle Competition in Massachusetts

The Gum Springs Gizmos are ready to display their talents in front of an international audience. The school’s LEGO League robotics team will be one of just two teams from the state of Georgia competing in this summer’s Waffle WPI Annual First Lego League Event being held in Worcester, Mass. 

Over 100 teams will compete in the event, with 20 coming from an international country that includes the likes of Korea, China, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria and more.

The competition will take place on June 13-15, however all seven students from GSES and their families are making a family event out of the opportunity to travel up north.

“Every one of our families is turning it into a family vacation,” coach Kasey Sheridan said. 

“It is like 40 minutes from Boston, so there are lots of things to do,” coach Haley Meier said. “It is a great opportunity for them to network with kids from other countries. That part alone is a really great experience for our kids.”

The Gizmos, in their third season of competition, earned the invitation to this summer’s event following a sixth place finish in the state competition in March. The team has been hard at work on perfecting their craft throughout the year, meeting every Monday of the school year for multiple hours. 

Sheridan and Meier both admit the journey to this competition has been a whirlwind, considering where they were when the team started three years ago.

“We were over our heads,” the duo laughed as Sheridan spoke. “But we had lots of great support. Jonathan Page, from the UGA 4-H program, came to our rescue and helped us navigate through all of the parts of the competition.” 

The Gizmos reached the super regionals during the first year of competition before back-to-back state tournament berths. The Gizmos have been awarded Grand Champion in back-to-back Super Regional competitions and then finished third in Innovation in both state competitions. 

“We’ve only ever competed in Georgia, so I am really excited to see the innovation projects from other places, especially a place like Texas where they are pretty big players,” Sheridan said. “I cannot wait to network with those teams to see what their innovation projects are like with their robots.”

In a Lego League competition, Meier said it looks like organized chaos.

“Robotics is a huge part of it, but we also have a part that is innovation,” Meier said. “So the robotics table is the fun, exciting part where you get to watch all the teams compete on the table with their robotics. But behind the scenes, there is judging on just the innovation project where each team has come up with a solution to solve the overall problem. That part of the competition is where we shine, honestly. That is what we usually win.”

The innovation part of competitions is a 25-minute presentation where the coaches are outside, leaving the elementary-aged competitors alone. Being prepared is key.

“They go in with strangers and talk with adults they don’t know and answer questions,” Meier said. “They have to know the project inside and out.”

Both Sheridan and Meier acknowledge the Lego League Robotics team teaches students a great deal of life skills, including teamwork and failure.

“They are giving this presentation as a team,” Sheridan said. “There is so much information that they have to work together to deliver the information. So if someone forgets something, they have to know it to politely pipe in.

“My favorite part is at the beginning of the year they don’t really know each other, at all. But now they are high-fiving each other and asking ‘how was your weekend?’ They are like siblings, almost. We have spent hundreds of hours together.”

“You fail more than you get it right,” Meier said. “Maybe one time out of the 50 you try. So having to deal with that and having to overcome that is a huge deal.”

This year’s theme is expanding ocean exploration. As part of the process, the Gizmos were tasked with extensive research and talking with professionals in the field.

“Problem solving is huge,” Sheridan said. “These kids researched bubble curtains, seaweed, microplastics; they just kept researching. We know so much about the ocean that we did not know before. But they had to come up with a unique issue. They wanted to be something unique to Georgia and they found out that old Marta cars are being dumped into the ocean. So they wanted to find a problem because it affects our Georgia community. It took a lot of research to find something we could solve as our problem.”

For Meier and Sheridan, the long hours of work is worth the success the Gizmos are experiencing. They are happy to continue to provide an additional avenue for students, which is spreading through the building as more students are wanting to get involved.

“It is very time consuming but is great,” Meier said. “Watching them, especially when we do well, and watching them being recognized by other people is great to know you were a part of that.”

“I have a student who is on the team now, and since second grade he has been saying “Ms. Sheridan, I am going to be on that robot team.’ And he is in that picture now.”

Regardless of how the competition goes in June, the Gizmos are prepared for a life-changing trip due to the hard work they have shown this school year.