Two Glen Cove fifth-graders were part of a team that won third place in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Championship Saturday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Gregory Villafane and Paolo Cacio and their team, RoboRocket, were one of 80 teams from the New York City region. Participants were between the ages of 9 and 14.
Villafane and Cacio attend Connolly Elementary School.
Each year the competition has a different theme. This year it was finding solutions that make seniors' lives easier. RoboRocket won the third place prize for Innovative Design. Their solution focused on movement and standing up from a toilet. They visited a physical therapist and received instruction from an architect on handicap accessibility in preparation for their project.
RoboRocket qualified for the championship in February when they won the prize for Best Research in the international competition's qualifying tournament.
