Help the IS 192Q FLL Robotics Team Go to the Nationals in St. Louis

I spent part of last Friday and all day Saturday at the Javitz Convention Center at the FIRST Lego League (FLL - ages 9-14) 80 team robotics competition where I have been a volunteer since I retired from the NYC school system 14 years ago. This year’s theme was “Trash Trek” where the project mission was to make less trash or improve the way people handle the trash we make. The teams had to run a robot three times on a field where they had to complete missions related to the trash concept within 2.5 minutes for each run. They also had to go before a panel of judges and present a research project related to topic in addition to a technical presentation showing how they built and programmed their robot. The overall winner is chosen based on all these factors.

This year’s winner was the team from IS 192Q from the St. Albans area of eastern Queens which is coached by Eric Greene who won for the first time. Eric has been a heroic figure for me since he joined our program 14 years ago as he managed to keep the robotics program going through all these years. This was no light victory since the competition came from many of the most elite private schools in the city which have many more resources than Eric has. Eric can now take his team to St. Louis for the international championship but needs to raise funds to do so. The team is from a lower middle class area (hard-working parents making ends meet), with possibly a few kids from the lower income level; it is a mixed income area. Eric is running a Go Fund Me Campaign and put out this request for assistance:

The FLL Champion robotics team from IS 192Q in St.Albans - Help to St. Louis

“We are the Robotics Team from IS 192 in St. Albans, Queens, New York. The team is made of seventh and eighth grade students. We just won the 1st Place Champion’s Award at the NYC FIRST LEGO League Championship tournament. Our team is now invited to the FIRST (World) Championship tournament in St. Louis, Mo. This event will take place April 27 to April 30. There are 14 members on the team. We would like everyone to but some families are unable to afford the trip. The money will go toward airfare, hotel, meals, and other expenses. We need the money as soon as possible so we can plan the trip and see how many students and parents would like to go and who needs financial help. It would be great if they all could go because everyone contributed to the team’s success.”

Here is the site if you want to help: www.gofundme.com/eru9tz9q