The Wayland Union school district was awarded $8,750 in grant funds by the Michigan Department of Education for its FIRST Lego and Robotic Teams.

The district now has a total of three teams:  FIRST Lego League (FLL) at Pine Street, FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team at the middle school and the FIRST Robotics Team at the high school.  This is the first year for FLL and FTC and year two for Robotics, which received the Rookie of the Year award last season.

FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an international organization that holds more than 2,600 events worldwide.  They have four programs for various age groups.

The FIRST Lego League Team at Pine Street is coached by Kelly Boston, media specialist at Pine and WMS. Their competition was held on Nov. 19 when they received second place for Innovation Solutions to find ways to help the declining bee population.

Wayland Middle School’s FIRST Tech Challenge team, FTC Catatechnics, is coached by WMS teacher, Michelle DeYoung-Foster.  They had their first competition on Dec. 3 in Allendale and will compete again Saturday, Dec. 10 at East Kentwood High School against other middle school teams.

The high school’s FIRST Robotics team #6090 has around 25 members this year and is coached by Keith Kohtz, a WUS parent and community member. They will compete in March 2017.

All teams have volunteer mentors and spend many hours preparing for competition. Students learn important S.T.E.M. skills, problem solving and team building.

For more information about FIRST Robotics, please visit www.firstinmichigan.org

PHOTO: The Wayland High School FIRST Robotics team members.