Did you know that one of the most important roles in the Championship is also one of the least visible? We’re talking about being a Judge in the FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Championships.
During both days of the 9th FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Puerto Rico Championship held on April 8 and 9, 2022, we were joined by our four judges Hannelore Valentín (OCPR), María del Pilar Angulo (UPR – Río Piedras), Miray Ramy (Eureka Enrichment Services, Inc.) and Roslyn Famous (LingoVox), and our judge advisor Nicole A González Goden (Rock Solid Technologies, Inc.).
Behind the scenes, our judges met with each team, interviewing them about their innovation projects, robot design, and programming. They saw their core values in action throughout the interviews and assessed their leadership, teamwork, perseverance and how they demonstrated ownership of their own learning. During these interviews, the judges served as mentors and role models for the team members, encouraging them with positive and constructive feedback. They championed and modeled theFIRST® core values of discovery, inclusion, innovation, impact, teamwork, and fun. The judges’ thorough rubrics and notes during these interviews became the fundamental basis for many of the championship awards, but their work did not end there.
After the interviews, all the judges met and participated in a long deliberation process where they discussed in depth each team, its achievements and its merits. Based on this discussion and the results of the Robot Game rounds, the judges determined the winners of the various Championship prizes.
To our judges, thank you for not only creating an environment where each of our teams felt comfortable presenting their research, robot design, and programming, but also for spending so many hours creating a fair process that celebrated each team, recognized their strengths, and determined our winners!
Do you want to join our list of volunteers for next year and help us make a positive impact in Puerto Rico? Fill out this form to be among the first to know about our upcoming volunteer opportunities! https://forms.gle/DPDkQnJkouqA2Gzq8
