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NILES -- A local FIRST LEGO League team will head to the Ohio FIRST LEGO League Championship at Wright State University in Dayton.
The Mechanical Fllyers team, which practices at the Art Outreach Gallery in the Eastwood Mall Complex, consists of seven area students ages 9 to 14 and includes two students from Mineral Ridge, one from Warren, one from Ohio Virtual Academy and three from Living Word Christian School.
The team placed first Dec. 10 at the FIRST LEGO League regional tournament at Warren G. Harding High School. The team then made the top 14 at the district event held Jan. 8 at Akron University.
Donnell Conner, a team coach, said the team received the Champion's Award for placing in top 14 out of 34 teams.
After the team competes at the state competition Feb. 4 and 5 in Dayton, the top-ranking can advance to the world competition in April in St. Louis.
FIRST LEGO League takes teams of members in fourth to eighth grades and challenges them to develop solutions for real-world problems -- like food safety, recycling and energy. The young innovators practice imaginative thinking and teamwork as they design, build and program a robot and then compete on a table-top playing field.
The members learn how to apply science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts, team-building skills and sportsmanship while using their imaginations as they present their solutions to judges.
Josanne Bodo, a parent, said the team for the competition had to come up with an invention based on the theme ''Animal Allies,'' meaning the members have to create something to improve animal and human relations.
Courtney Shively, a parent and coach, said the team started four years ago.
"The team has been very successful in the past four years, winning nine trophies," she said.
Shivley said the Mechanical Fllyers team is one of two teams, the other form Austintown Middle School, that qualified this year for state.
"This is the first time for qualifying for state for LEGO League," she said.
Mikayla Shively, 12, an Ohio Virtual Academy seventh-grader, said she has been with LEGO Robotics for four years and the team members have learned how to work together to achieve their goals.
"We work hard as a team," she said. ''We know what we have to do and see what the students do with the robots."
Ethan Bodo, 13, a Mineral Ridge seventh-grader, said he been a part of the team since its inception. He said last year's team had a lot of fun, so he looked forward to participating again.
Alyssa Brown, 13, an eighth-grader in Warren, said she had a lot of fun working on the robots with past members and new members.
"I like that the challenge deals with animals. That made it fun," she said.
Parent and coach Frank Shively said what makes the Mechanical Fllyers team different from others is that the team consists of students from all from different schools. He said the members only see each other after school, unlike other teams that has members all in the same school building.
"The other teams can all go directly to the library with each other at their schools. These kids come from different areas and have some members who come from Andover. We are Heinz 57 Team,'' Frank Shively said.
Lara Bodo, 9, a third-grader who has attended the team events but wasn't allowed to be a member, said it was intimidating at first to learn what the team does.
"It was scary talking to the judges, but I saw what it was like,'' she said.
Conner said the world championship is for all levels and age groups.
Josanne Bodo said the team had to speak in front of a panel of judges explaining core values, teamwork, project work and presentation.
"They had to answer questions about their invention and then present it,'' she said.
Josanne Bodo said the team also described their robot, what technology was involved, problem solving and strategies.
Frank Shively said there are ''gracious professionals'' among teams, and while the members are competing against each other, they still provide assistance and help other competitors.
Frank Shively said the team is excited about how far it has progressed this season and hopes to advance to the world championships.
The team has a GoFund Me account at www.gofundme.com/mechanical-fllyers-ohio-trip