Sacred Heart teacher wins highest honour at competition in Dublin

AN inspirational Sacred Heart teacher is looking forward to ‘building’ upon her success, having achieved the highest honour in a prestigious Lego competition in Dublin recently.

It was Arlene Corrigan’s genuine ‘enthusiasm’ that caught the attention of the judges at the national stage of the ‘First Lego League’, and, as such, she was crowned winner of the ‘Top Team Coach/Mentor across the North and South of Ireland’ award.

What’s more, the team of Lego-loving Year Nine students that Arlene was coaching didn’t do too badly in the competition, either!

Naming themselves ‘SHC Savers’, the students secured their spot in the national stage in the First Lego League, held in the Crown Plaza Hotel, Dublin, after winning the regional final of the competition in early March.

In both competitions, the students, under the scrutiny of the judges, constructed and programmed Lego robots to complete various energy-themed ‘missions’ on a large mat, populated with Lego models.

The objective was to score as many points as possible within the time limit by completing the missions.

And, despite being under immense pressure, the group of students – Cillian Ellis; Jake Gill; Grace Glackin; Luke McLaughlin; Niamh McAleer; Caoimhe McAteer; Brionne McAteer; Zuzanna Banas; Catherine Gyengyar; and Victoria Gyengyar – displayed great determination, focus and teamwork, and illustrated their programming and presentation skills to the highest of standards throughout.

The team, accompanied by Arlene Corrigan and SHC Savers, returned from Dublin with an impressive array of medals, as well as an additional trophy to add to their cabinet.

The national stage of the ‘First Lego League’ competition was streamed live on YouTube, with the SHC Savers Team featuring many times throughout the day’s fun-filled events. So, if you missed it, or were in attendance and wish to relive the day’s events, please visit ‘www.youtube.com/live/ ENnZ4eXk8U8’.

Concluding, the school expressed their heartfelt thanks to their local team sponsor, EJM Mc Keown Ltd, and to Frank Chism, the TD technician, for all of his assistance and support.