This story was submitted by Harker parent Maria Gong (Christopher, grade 6).

On March 3, the EagleBots team, comprising grade 6 students Andrew Chang, Christopher Gong, Kaushik Shivakumar and Rithvik Panchapakesan, secured the top spot in the robot performance category of the NorCal First Lego League (FLL) Silicon Valley Championship, held at Newark High School. The EagleBots earned first place in the robot performance category by securing 455 points in a field of 48 teams from six district qualifier tournaments. The EagleBots’ focus on robot performance has been recognized by their achievements over the past two years at the St. Lawrence qualifier where they secured the top spot in the robot performance category this season and second place last year, as a rookie team.

Team StormTech, a second group of grade 6 students made up of Ryan Adolf, Ayush Pancholy, Akshay Ravoor, Ashwin Reddy and Anjay Saklecha, also had an amazing season competing for their first time in FLL. At the NorCal Championships, they were awarded the second place trophy for strategy and innovation and their robot finished fourth overall in the robot game with an impressive 418 points. Their research project, “Invizalift: The Motorized Knee Brace” received praise from the judges. Throughout the season they worked hard and had fun.