While their efforts weren’t enough to garner wins in the Challenge and Design categories, they were recognized for their team work and perseverance. The two awards the team received were for, “Teamwork,” which involved a separate interview where judges did a half hour Q & A session with the team members, and an “Against All Odds,” award. The latter award was given in recognition of the team’s collective effort in trying to overcome persistent hardware problems.
 
Christian Wareikis, co-faculty advisor to the Gator-Bots Team said of them, “The kids were marvelous and really tried to problem solve the entire day. There was one stretch when all 14 worked frantically for two hours so they could get the last run off. It was pretty cool.”   This most recent Lego Challenge follows a November Tournament where the Gator Bots placed 11th out of 50 teams at the First Lego League Robotics Competition sponsored by the Lansdale Catholic School Robotics Club. Following the November Tournament the group practiced diligently for the December Eastern Pennsylvania State Tournament where their hard work paid off. They were recognized in three categories; a 1st place in Design, 5th place in the Mars Challenge, and 4th place in Presentation.  

The Middle School students, who devoted each Wednesday afternoon and many weekends of their time to practice are: David Belyea, Fernando Mendez-Roca, Ian Riley, Joanie Thompson, Keenan Tucker, Keith Bradley, Ryan Archer, Sam Fisher, Tara Stokes, Kokie Imasogie, Robbie Thompson (coach), Austin Anderson (coach), Andrew Rippel, Jon Culp, Will Culp, Matt Cooper, and Matt Hyman.
 
 January 2004