FIRST(R) LEGO(R) League's (FLL) Robogators Team 2 from Northshore Christian Academy (NCA) in Everett, WA is pleased to announce that they have been invited to compete in the 2015 FIRST(R) World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri on April 22-25, 2015. Out of 27,000 FLL teams worldwide, there were 527 submissions from 22 countries that applied to compete for the FLL Global Innovation Award. NCA's Robogators Team 2 (also known as FLL Team #6438) was selected as one of the top 20 teams to move onto the semi-finals in St. Louis. The top 3 teams then will be chosen to move onto the World finals in Washington, DC in June 2015. The winning team will receive a cash prize of USD $20,000. The two runner-up teams will each receive a cash prize of USD $5,000. Each finalist team member will also receiv e a new LEGO(R) MINDSTORMS(R) Education EV3 robot set.

The FIRST(R) LEGO(R) League Global Innovation Award presented by XPRIZE is designed to encourage and assist FLL teams to further develop their innovative solutions to solve real-world problems. This year's challenge theme is 'World Class-Learning Unleashed.' The Robogators team had to come up with a way to improve upon current methods of teaching, which could be utilized in an open market to simplify learning and teaching. NCA's Robogators Team 2 application stated that, "We have come up with an innovation to give the student the advantage of leading edge technology to capture, visualize, and imagine the subject they're studying. We've found that most textbooks are expensive, heavy to carry and, most importantly, do not fit with all learning styles. Our solution incorporates technology that engages the students by utilizing various styles of learning and, when using these multiple forms of learning, the student will retain and understand the material better and earn high er grades."

NCA's Robogators Team 2 consists of 7 student members; 3 girls and 4 boys, who are currently in 6th, 7th or 8th grade. They have varying experience on the robotics team, ranging from beginners to third year members. According to their FLL application, "These students are thinkers, developers, and most of all love to create cool things. They are known as the team who stays at school the longest and who strives to create the best designs. The team honors its members by ensuring each team member has a say in all aspects of the team's overall goals. These goals consist of, but are not limited to, the robot itself (design, build and program), the project (research, interview, script and presentation) and the core (character development, encouragement and community service). The team's motto is "Never give up, even when things fail." They have inspired others by sharing their ideas with their classmates, their teachers and also with local entrepreneurs. Finally, they love to laugh, eat junk food, listen to loud music while practicing, serve others, and make their robot do cool things."

The 2014-2015 NCA Robogators Team 2 coaching team includes: Mr. Chad Abramson, Mrs. Elise Abramson, and Mr. Cori Stepan. These coaches were allowed time off work by their employers to coach, because they see this endeavor as a great investment in the future of engineering and STEM education. To learn more about NCA's STEM Education and Robotics Programs, go to this webpage: www.northshorechristianschools.org/STEM

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Northshore Christian Academy is located in Snohomish County, near the Everett Boeing Plant and the City of Mukilteo. Northshore Christian Academy provides a high quality education in a Christ-Centered environment for over 970 students in K-8th Grades and a Licensed Early Learning Center for toddlers, preschool and pre-Kindergarten children. Prospective family tours are given every Wednesday at 9:30am. Applications for 2015/2016 enrollment are currently being accepted. Please visit the NCA Website for more information at www.northshorechristianschools.org.