Following a series of qualifiers, 39 FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League teams from Nassau and Suffolk Counties are set to compete at the Long Island Championship at Longwood High School on Sunday, March 1. During the event, presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) dba FIRST Long Island, students ages nine to 14 will present their LEGO MINDSTORMS® robots to address the challenge set forth in this year’s theme — CITY SHAPERSM.

These teams were among the more than 200 that worked hard this season to research, design, build, program and test LEGO MINDSTORMS® robots to explore one of the most relevant topics facing the world today: sustainability. Students explored current solutions to the problem they identified, and developed an innovative solution which they presented to Judges.

Students presented their solutions during one of seven qualifier tournaments that were held at William Floyd High School, Mineola High School and Huntington High School in January and early February. At the Championship, these teams will look to advance to the FIRST World Festival in Detroit on April 29-May 2.

This will be the 16th year that FIRST LEGO League has enabled students on Long Island to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through building and problem-solving.

“It’s wonderful to see so many students getting excited about the FIRST LEGO League challenge this year,” says Stephanie Stern, Program Co-Director and FIRST Long Island representative. “I was so impressed by each team’s performance during the qualifiers and enjoyed seeing how many skills they acquired by participating in the program—everything from teamwork to Gracious Professionalism® to STEM education. I can’t wait to see what the students bring to the championship. To see the teams in action, join us between 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — there is no admission fee.”

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

The following 39 teams have advanced to the SBPLI Long Island FIRST LEGO League Championship, which will take place on Sunday, March 1 at Longwood High School: