The end of 2024 was all rainbows and (underwater) unicorns for seven talented John Wollaston students – AKA Team Narwhal – who emerged victorious from the FIRST Lego League National Championship West last December.
The STEM gurus – Cheria (Year 12), Oviya, Alexis, Charles, Tom, Brandon and Mulder (all Year 10) – have earnt themselves a place at the 2025 First Lego League World Championships in Houston, Texas, in April this year.
“They achieved this feat by demonstrating wonderful core values of teamwork, inclusion and innovation, as well as outstanding planning, design and programming skills,” STEM teacher Stephen Fox said.
First Lego League (FLL) is an international robotics competition where teams engage in research, problem-solving, coding and engineering as they build and program a Lego robot that navigates the missions of a robot game.
The World Championship is the annual culmination of this competition, which showcases the best of the best from around the world, and attracts approximately 50,000 attendees from more than 80 countries.
For Team Narwhal, heading to the US to compete will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“FLL is a fantastic opportunity to express yourself and to learn new things in a safe, fun place, with others who are just as curious and creative as you are,” Team Narwhal’s Cheria LeVaillant said.
And the school is buzzing with excitement for them.
“Our whole community is behind the JWACS FLL Team, we congratulate these seven remarkable students, and their dedicated teachers, for an extraordinary effort in making it to the FIRST World Lego Championships, representing both Australia and John Wollaston Anglican Community School,” John Wollaston Principal Tim Russell said.
But while the students have well-and-truly earned their place in Houston, they now have to earn their passage.
And Team Narwhal are now looking for opportunities to fundraise the cost of their travels to the USA in April.
Anyone wishing to help the students can do so through the Containers For Change program by providing the team’s unique member number ‘C11547574’ at a refund point when returning containers.
Alternatively, anyone wishing to donate can contact STEM teacher Chrisna LeVaillant at clevaillant@jwacs.wa.edu.au
The community is also invited to follow along with the students’ journey via the John Wollaston Instagram page
