Mineola High School will host Nassau County’s inaugural FIRST LEGO League (FLL) all-day qualifying match tomorrow.
“This is quite an event for the county as well as our district,” School District Superintendent Michael Nagler said. “[FLL] does most of their stuff in Longwood. But they’ve grown so big that they needed to split the tournaments. I look forward to a lot of fun that day and seeing another side of competition in the gym.”
Nagler met with the league on Tuesday, Jan. 13 to go over details for Saturday’s event. Schools across Nassau, including nearby Garden City, New Hyde Park, Roslyn, Floral Park, Carle Place and Great Neck, will have teams in the match.
“I’m looking forward to this,” Nagler said. “I coach my son in the junior FLL. I think it’s a great program, particularly in our STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Math] program because it deals with the engineering aspect. Part of bringing it to Mineola is also volunteering to host the competition.”
Thirty-two 10-member team tournaments will be held on Saturday. Mineola will boast two teams from Mineola Middle School in the qualifier. Four teams from the Jackson Avenue School will participate in the junior FLL regionals on Feb. 28.
“This competition compliments the curriculum,” Nagler said. “It’s an extra-curricular activity that fits with the curriculum.”
The league is an international program for children that combines a hands-on, interactive robotics program with a sports-like atmosphere. For this year’s FLL Challenge throughout the world, FLL World Class, more than 265,000 children from 80 countries will participate in league events.
