Our Urban-Suburban Science Team students have been hard at work—and it paid off! In January, they competed in their very first STEM competition as a team and did an incredible job. This talented group is made up of Urban-Suburban students plus two new faces from Spencerport. Welcome, Matthew and Andrew Woodbine! 

Led by U-S alum Kelvin Knight, the Science Team trains at Coach Knight’s alma mater, the University of Rochester. Starting in September 2024, the team dove into a semester of FIRST LEGO League (FLL) training. They explored science history and facts through campus tours, STEM field trips, and hands-on activities like programming robots and building FLL challenge sets. 

This year’s FIRST LEGO League theme was Oceanography. The students learned to build and program a LEGO SPIKE Prime robot, then took on the challenge of researching microplastics in the ocean. They even wrote and delivered a full presentation on the topic! 

 On January 19, 2025, the team competed in the FIRST LEGO League Regional competition, holding their own against tough competition. The students will continue their STEM journey through June 2025, bringing this year’s experiences to next year’s Urban-Suburban Science Team. Watch their thoughtful thank you to the Program by clicking this link.

Special thanks to this year’s sponsors, the Penfield FIRST Robotics Team #1511 and the local chapter of the American Society of Quality, for supporting our students’ STEM dreams!