58 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • FEBRUARY 13, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Photo courtesy of Peter Xanthus
The M.S. 216 “Ryan Lion” and “Ryan Pride” team members won an unprecedented fi rst and third place award fi nish at Queens’ NYC FIRST LEGO League Tournament in St. Albans on Jan. 25.
Fresh Meadows students compete in Queens’
FIRST Lego League STEM Robotics Competition
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
George J. Ryan Middle School 216 students
in Fresh Meadows are looking to
bring home the city title at the NYC
FIRST Lego League Championships in
Manhattan on March 15.
Th is year the “Ryan Lions” and “Ryan
Pride” teams from M.S. 216’s Robotics
Program roared through Queens’ FIRST
Lego League STEM Robotics Competition
at I.S. 192 in St. Albans on Jan. 25. Th e
two teams fi nished in fi rst and second
place out of 24 competing Queens schools
for the Robot Performance portion of the
event. It led to an unprecedented fi rst-
and third-place fi nish for both teams from
Fresh Meadows.
Photo courtesy of Peter Xanthus
“I used to run the NYC FIRST organization
and I just coach here again like I used
to, and I’ve never seen two teams come in
fi rst and second place for the robot,” said
Peter Xanthus, who has been coaching the
robotics team at M.S. 216 for 10 years. “It
was a culmination of a lot of hard work
and I was very proud.”
Photo courtesy of Peter Xanthus
Th e research and robotics tournament
is sponsored by NYC FIRST Lego League,
a platform for children and young people
(between the ages of 9 and 14) to gain
21st-century skills while having a lot of
fun. FIRST Lego League consists of two
parts: In the practical part, the teams
build a robot out of Lego Mindstorms
which acts autonomously. Together with
the robot, the teams cope with tricky missions
on a playing fi eld with specifi c construction
models. In the theoretical part,
the teams propose an individual research
question and develop innovative solutions.
Th is year, the teams are researching
and experimenting on the topic, “City
Shapers.” Some of the most pressing problems
include things like building with sustainable
materials, creating energy effi cient
structures, reducing traffi c congestion,
repairing aging infrastructure, increasing
accessibility and inclusivity, and reducing
the damage caused by natural disasters.
In preparation for the tournament, the
students spent 10 weeks perfecting their
robot dedicating their time during lunch
break and aft er-school hours until 7 p.m.,
according to Xanthus.
“It was fun. We would stay here,
laugh, do the boards and skits,” said seventh
grader Milana Pinkhasov, a Pride
team member. “Overall, it was a fun experience
yet nerve-wracking because I’ve
never experienced a competition before.”
Eighth-grader and Lions team member
Jerry Chen, who designed and programmed
the robot, said the experience
was “scary yet motivational.”
“I saw so many people and my team was
cheering me on. I did what I did and got
the points,” Chen said.
Seventh-grader and Lions team member
Amanda Martini, who was originally
the team’s captain, was proud to showcase
their creation to the borough, she said.
Aft er her sister, an alumni of M.S. 216,
participated in the Robotics Competition,
Martini knew she wanted to also compete.
“I’ve been wanting to be a part of the
robotics team since I was in fourth grade,”
Martini said. “I’ve been to California
before and saw the team compete and
that’s when I really fell in love with it. I
thought it was really cool to have this
robot and have it complete an obstacle
course.”
Next, the Lions and the Pride team will
bypass the semifi nals and meet the 50 best
programs across the borough at the NYC
Championships on March 15, according
to Xanthus. Th e winners of the championship
will compete with other schools from
across the country and world.
Eighth-grader and Pride team member
Ryan Mahase, said he is feeling confi dent
moving forward in the competition.
“It was really challenging but being a
part of a team that taught me that together
we can accomplish anything because
we can always follow our goals,” Mahase
said. “We’re going to do a great job because
since we got the champions award, we’re
really motivated and we’re going to keep
trying, and we’re not going to give up.”
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