Iolani’s two fledgling Junior FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) LEGO League teams made their Junior League presentation debuts last Saturday. After only two months of preparation, the LEGORaiders RED and BLACK teams consisting of thirteen second and third graders created models and answered a variety of questions in front of a panel of reviewers. This year’s challenge demonstrated “how energy in the classroom is powered and how to demonstrate energy-efficiency through conservation or finding alternative energy sources.”
The LEGORaiders RED Team, consisting of members Nicholas Chang, Amy Nakamura, Arjun Sriangarajan, Sarah Nakamoto, Kainoa Smith, and Winston Wei, made a presentation based on how wind power could be used to generate electricity in Hawaii and how electricity is used to power the computer in their classroom. The team’s coach was Mrs. Malie Smith. 
The LEGORaiders BLACK Team demonstrated the creation of electricity inside HECO’s Power Plant and how the electricity travels through a series of transformers, power towers and substations to power the aquarium filter in Mrs. White’s Science Classroom at ‘Iolani. Trevor Tamura's clever I SPY board on simple machines, Alia Levi's picture-perfect presentation board write-ups, Andrew Kobata's schematic drawing of the board (accompanied by his Grandfather's picture album of actual energy sites), Michael Okumoto's skillful drawings, Emi Muranaka's wonderful LEGO sign, Cameron Pascua's humorous depictions of ways to save energy and Christopher Lindsay's tour of the model totally wowed the reviewers and the audience.
LEGORaiders BLACK Team Coach, Dr. Holly Lindsay exclaimed, “Other coaches took so many pictures of the BLACK Team’s board, I thought it would start to glow! These students outdid themselves in their passion for learning, ability to do research and their endless enthusiasm for building. Way to Go, LEGORAIDERS!”
The LEGORaiders received excellent ratings and their photogenic members were pictured with both Lt. Gov. Aiona and Mayor Mufi Hannemann. The Lt. Governor made many enthusiastic remarks about the BLACK Team's high quality of research, excellent presentation and creative displays.
Despite popular and mistaken opinion, ‘Iolani does not have a LEGO Club as yet. However, ‘Iolani School does sponsor several Science Teams based on the FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) Programs. These programs were adopted as “extensions of ‘Iolani’s Science curriculum” according to Mrs. Jo Ann Stepien, Assistant Dean of the Lower School.
Dr. Mark Lindsay, faculty advisor for the Roboraiders teams as well as the FIRST Robotics Teams explains, “The sponsorship of these teams shows ‘Iolani School’s commitment to science and technology. In the Lower School we have two teams of second and third graders who are between the ages of 6-9 years old. These teams are the LEGORaiders RED and BLACK. They do not enter at the competition level, but are “in training” and developing their skills at teamwork, presentation, engineering, and scientific research
Dr. Lindsay goes on to clarify, “We also have two teams of fifth through eighth graders who are between the ages of 9-14. These teams are called the Roboraiders RED and Roboraiders BLACK. They engage in robot design, intense robotic competition, project presentation and teamwork.” The Roboraiders RED Team was crowned State Champions this past Saturday and will compete at the FIRST LEGO League Power Puzzle World Championship in Atlanta, Georgia next April. They will compete against 84 other teams from 27 countries and global regions.
This year ‘Iolani also has a FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) Robotics Program for ninth to twelfth graders. After only one short month to build and test their robot, ‘Iolani’s Upper School Robotics Team placed first in their first tournament.
