'Mindblender's to compete for state robotics title

The 4-H motto is "to make the best better," and for four local students, they've worked hard as a team to be one the best robotics teams in the Panhandle.

The Sidney Mindblenders 4-H robotics teams advanced through the first 4-H Lego League Tournament that hosted 10 teams involving 85 students from the Panhandle at West Elementary last month. The Mindblenders are now headed to the Strategic Air and Space Museum where they will represent Sidney and compete at the Nebraska Robotics Expo state tournament in Ashland, Neb., on Saturday.

"We have four students going to state," said Cynthia Gill, a local Nebraska extension Educator. "There will be 48 teams from across the state competing."

The team – including fourth-graders Grace Payton and Spencer Robinson and sixth-graders William Gay and Jonathan Spachek – will compete together against teams consisting of fourth- to eighth-graders. They will also compete against Western Nebraska teams including the Kimball Kimbots, Bridgeport Bulldotz and Perkins County Spartabots

Members of the Cabela's IT department have volunteered and dedicated their time to the robotics program in Sidney that started through the Cool Kids Club a few years ago. Coaches Cheryl Landsman, Denny Thoma, Lisa Bleicher and James Landsman meet with the robotics team two to three times a week at the Light Memorial Presbyterian Church to prepare for the state tournament and provide guidance for the students who are involved.

Each team will compete in the three-part competition. Teams will program their robots and compete in a robotics obstacle course, participate in a Core Values and Teamwork Challenge, and the Mindblenders will present their research project discussing recycling and pollution and what it means to them.

Gill said that the Core Values and Teamwork Challenge are the most important. For the Mindblenders their core values include various "we" statements encouraging creativity, learning and teamwork. Some of the values include: "We are a team," "What we discover is more important than what we win," and "We share our experiences with others."

"They are learning so much through this program, it's not just about robotics." Gill said. "They not only learn to program a robot through coding but they are learning professionalism, how to work on a themed project and they are really learn how to work together as a team. They each have their own special talents to contribute and as a team it brings all of their special talents together."