It is a new school year, and the First Lego League teams of Bayshore Christian Ministries are starting up again. They are significant teams not because of how many awards or medals or trophies they have acquired, but they are significant because of the opportunities they provide in an area that has not prospered like the rest of Silicon Valley. According to the head coach, Greg Corsetto, “There is a shortage of FLL teams in the EPA area. Adjoining communities field significantly more teams.” There are only two FLL teams currently registered in East Palo Alto, while nearby Palo Alto has 14 registered, as shown on the North Cal FLL site. Bayshore Christian Ministries seeks to raise that number by expanding from 2 to 3 teams due to the number of children who want to join rising.
Bayshore Christian Ministries, a ministry to East Palo Alto founded by Stanford students, first established “TeensNTech” to teach robotics to middle school children. This evolved into a First Lego League team in 2014, which the nine children participating decided to call themselves “Robot Spartans.” They did well in their first competition, which was held at EPA’s Boys and Girls Club.
The children really enjoy robotics, and demonstrate this love of robotics by returning this current school year to the First Lego League team once again. The coaches play a huge part in this by mentoring the children and helping them learn to explore the world of robotics in an engaging way. The First Lego League teams of East Palo Alto are truly doing impactful work for the youth of East Palo Alto.
