Johnston Community Education

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

In FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge, friendly competition is at the heart of the program. Teams of students engage in research, problem-solving, coding, and engineering while building and programming a LEGO robot that navigates the missions of a robot game. Teams of 6-8 students, led by PARENT-VOLUNTEER coaches, will meet up to 2 days each week for up to 1 hour. During these team "practices", teams will work together to design, build, and code their robot. Teams will also practice the FLL core values while developing a unique solution to a real-world issue related to the current season's theme. 

The Fall 2024 FLL season theme is "Dive". FLL Challenge teams will participate in the "Submerged" challenge. In the SUBMERGED℠ challenge, launching August 6, 2024, FIRST LEGO League teams will use creative thinking and LEGO® technology to explore the layers of the ocean and bring their learnings and ideas to the surface as they “sea” into the future. Learn more about the 2024 FLL season theme. 

Our FLL Challenge season offered through Johnston Community Education culminates with an FLL Challenge competition where teams will compete with other FLL Challenge teams. The details of our 2024 competition are still being determined. We are planning for this end-of-season event to take place on Saturday, December 14. It is yet to be determined if this event will be a "regional" event sanctioned by the FIRST organization where teams from around the metro area are invited to compete; or if this will be a competiton exclusive to our 4 Johnston Community Education teams. 

Early Registration Deadline: 8/25 (Fee increases to $135 on 8/26)

LOGISTICS:

• Participants should register for the team roster with the practice schedule that best fits their schedule.
• Volunteer Coaches are NOT pre-assigned to all teams. After a team roster reaches minimum enrollment (6) - we will need to identify parent-volunteers from the roster to serve as the Head Coach plus 2 Assistant Coaches. That means we need AT LEAST 3 parents from every roster of 6-8 students to volunteer to coach in some role. If we are unable to find sufficient parent-volunteer support for a team, we will attempt to relocate students to other teams based on available roster space in the order in which they registered. If we cannot find a new roster to move them to, your registration fee will be refunded.
• All teams will practice at the JCSD District Office, 6510 NW 62nd Ave, Johnston, IA 50131
• Registration Deadline: Sunday, August 25 (Fee increases to $140 on Aug 26)
• Coaches' Meeting to be held the week of Sept 3-6
• Teams will be contacted by parent-volunteer coaches following the coaches' meeting.
• Practices will begin the week of September 16.
• Teams will practice 2 nights per week.
• No experience or equipment necessary for participants or coaches! 

AGES NOTE: The age range for our Johnston Community Education FLL Challenge program is 4th-8th grade. This varies slightly from the recommended age range provided by the FIRST organization. Our age range falls within the FIRST recommended age range so teams do not need to be concerned about eligibility at FIRST competitions. 4th-8th grade is the age range we have found the most success with for our program. 

INSTRUCTOR: Parent-Volunteer Coaches! 

This program is dependent on parent-volunteers to operate. Rosters are limited to 6-8 students. That means we need to identify a Head Coach and 2 Assistant Coaches for every 6-8 students. A MINIMUM of 2 adults (Coach + Assistant Coach) are required to be on-site to supervise each practice. No LEGO or robotics experience is necessary. FLL provides materials to guide teams through each practice and all projects should be student-driven. With small rosters - all parents should consider how they can volunteer to support the team.

Please contact commed@johnston.k12.ia.us with questions.