Trivia night supports students’ innovation

A TRIVIA night and silent action are being held to help a group of young inventors from Geelong Lutheran College get the opportunity their ingenuity deserves.

Out of thousands of teams, the group of eight students were recognised as being among the top few in the FIRST Lego League competition.

The competition sees students compete with robots of their own design. Teams are then given tasks for their robots to accomplish, with different points designated to these tasks.

This year’s theme, “City Shaper”, is related to construction.

The students from Geelong Lutheran College’s robot was one of the most efficient, but SEMATICS teacher Jane Hollett said this was not by chance.

“It’s a really a year’s hard work. They meet out of school times and are a really dedicated group of students.”

Having finished second in one of four national competitions in Australia, the Lutheran College students qualified for the FIRST Lego League Carolina’s Open Invitational at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. This will take place in May.

Since their achievement at the nationals, the students have been working to fine-tune their robot to make it even more effective.

The team have also been nominated for their Innovation Project for the FIRST LEGO Global Innovation Award.

For separate but related competition, the students devised a concept to help improve accessibility for people using wheelchairs.

This will be held June 7-9, 2020 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and World Showcase Pavilion in Bay Lake, Florida.

This event will see 20 semi-finalist teams receive assistance to further develop solutions, including $20,000 USD to the winning team.

The trivia night and auction will be held in the Geelong Lutheran College Gym on February 29 and will run from 6-9.30pm.

The auction includes some highly valuable items, including a Geelong Cats guernsey signed by the players and a Leunig print.

There are also a range of other items that have been donated by local businesses.

Tickets for the night are $15 per person or $150 for a table of 10. To book, head to zevent.com.au/event/geelong-lutheran-college/trivia-night-sematics-team-fundraiser.