First Lego League

FIRST LEGO League introduces science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16* through fun, exciting hands-on learning. FIRST LEGO League participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s students and teachers build a better future together. In FIRST LEGO League, students engage in hands-on STEM experiences, building confidence, growing their knowledge and developing habits of learning. FIRST LEGO League’s three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.

At St. Patrick School, our students in grades 4-8 have the opportunity to participate in a competitive First Lego League program.  Students meet after school two or three times a week to work under the direction of Coach James Prim.  

This year, one of our teams made it to Regionals held at Crown Center this weekend and came away with the "Motivate" award!   Our "all girl" team didn't get to this point in an easy way.  They were rocked by the tragedy of losing one of their beloved team members, Tena, but decided to keep working hard in her memory.  We are so incredibly proud of these girls and Mr. Prim for their perseverance!

The Motivate award winners embrace the culture of FIRST and clearly shows what it means to be a team. This judged award celebrates the team that represents the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through Gracious Professionalism and general enthusiasm for the overall philosophy of FIRST and what it means to be a FIRST Tech Challenge team. This is a team who makes a collective effort to make FIRST known throughout their school and community, and sparks others to embrace the culture of FIRST. Required Criteria for the Motivate Award:
• Team must show respect and Gracious Professionalism® to everyone they meet at a FIRST Tech Challenge event.
• Team must submit an engineering portfolio. The engineering portfolio must include a team organization plan, which could describe their future goals and the steps they will take to reach those goals. Examples of what the plan could include are team identity, fund-raising goals, sustainability goals, timelines, outreach, finances, and community service goals.
• The team must be an ambassador for FIRST programs.
• Team must be able to explain the individual contributions of each team member, and how these apply to the overall success of the team. Strongly Suggested Criteria for the Motivate Award:
• Team takes part in their presentation, and actively engages with the judges.
• Team shows a creative approach to materials that market their team and FIRST.
• Team can clearly show the successful recruitment of people who were not already active within the STEM community.
• Team could also summarize experiences and lessons learned from outreach.


The Robotics program at St. Patrick has grown immensely over the last several years at St. Patrick.  Mr. Prim has created a winning program that students can't wait to be a part of!