“Chester officials honor school robotics team” in The Philadelphia Tribune
By Tribune Staff Report
February 3, 2017
Chester City Council members and Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland recognized members of the Chester Community Charter School robotics team for its performance in the FIRST LEGO LEAGUE Robotics Competition.
Named The Bionic Beasts, the school’s robotics team placed first in Robot Performance, second overall out of 31 teams and won an award for mechanical design at the competition, held last month at Central High School in Philadelphia.
Certificates of recognition were presented by Chester City Councilwoman Elizabeth Williams Kirkland, who was in attendance, and the full Council. FIRST LEGO League’s (FLL), for fourth- to eighth-grade student teams, is a collaborative program between the LEGO Group and For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology (FIRST), which engages students through playful and meaningful learning while helping them discover the fun in science and technology, according to a news release.
“We are honored to have our students’ hard work recognized by the City of Chester, and will continue to strive for excellence, while upholding CCCS’ mission,” said Daniel Aulisio, coach of the seven-member robotics team, stated in the release. “I want students in Chester to realize that math and science can be fun and can be used outside of the classroom.”
Aulisio founded the team in 2013 as a LEGO-building and robot club, after receiving LEGO Mindstorms Robot kits for the CCCS’ after-school program, and realizing the untapped potential in the school’s students, according to the release. In competition, students use elements from mathematics, science and engineering to build their robots, and to compete against teams from throughout the Delaware Valley.
The Bionic Beasts competed in its first competition last year, after Mr. Aulisio received an FLL In The City grant through the University of Pennsylvania’s Grasp Lab and expanded the club into a full robotics team. The team will now move on to the regional championship competition Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania.