FLL Volunteer Recognition

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College hosted the Provincial
Championships for the FIRST LEGO League event on January 17, 2015. The Ontario East Provincial
Championship is a key part of the overall season each year and the support of the two academic
institutions helps to foster a love of science, technology, engineering and math concepts.
There were 40 teams of students between the ages of 9-14 in attendance. The gymnasium was filled
with over 900 students, parents, coaches, teachers and volunteers. This years project mission was to
find a better or more innovative way to help someone learn. Teams chose a topic, designed their FLL
WORLD CLASS question, created their solution and then presented to the judges.
Students from various Faculties at UOIT and Durham College took a very active volunteer role for the
day and were critical to the success of the event. These roles included Judges, Team Escorts,
Scorekeepers, Pit Admin, Practice Table Assistant and Table Re-setters. In addition, students attended
an additional training session in order to qualify for their roles at the event. The volunteers were able to
apply their professional and academic experience to evaluate FLL robots, projects and teamwork.
Technical judges evaluated the design and construction of LEGO robots. Project judges assessed the
research, solution and presentation of the FLL research project and teamwork judges considered the
cooperation and delegation between FLL team members.
Many volunteers assisted as team escorts for the student teams. This role saw the volunteers guiding
the FLL teams around the university and college for the day making sure that they were at their correct
room location for each aspect of the program. They also offered positive feedback to the students
throughout the day. Several teachers/coaches commented on how impressed they were with the
teacher candidates and other university and college students and noted how supportive they were to
their students. Here are a few comments:
Our escort was amazing. She cheered on our team and made sure that they were at their
designated rooms with enough time for the students to prepare.
This event is always so well run and the volunteers have so much to do with this. Thank you to
all these students!
This kind of experience was invaluable for all the volunteers. They were able to interact with students
and teachers in a different venue and participate in a large scale project such as FLL. Their assistance at
the Provincial Championships was rewarding for everyone involved.
Sheila Rhodes
Faculty of Education,
UOIT

Sheila Rhodes

Dave Ellis
Director,
FLL Ontario