Four members of the CyberColonels presented their first place robot to the Board of Education last night.

Entirely made out of LEGOs, the robot moved with precision as it encountered each of the 'missions' along the way.

What impressed me the most was the fact that the middle school students have been working on this project since the beginning of school and had their regional competition in December. The 20-member team has put in countless hours, sometimes practicing one mission more than 30 times.

Sean Healy, Gianni Jannke, Henry Crain and Michael Whittle demonstrated the robots moves as parents and teachers looked on. The CyberColonels placed first in the 'Robot Performance Award' category, where teams have a chance to compete in at least three 2.5 minute matches where their highest score counts.

The students' professionalism and sportsmanship during the regional competition earned the CyberColonels a second, first-place award for their teamwork.

On Dec. 11, the town's robotics team competed against other youth teams in the FIRST LEGO League State Championship at Central Connecticut State University. A total of 190 grade and middle school students comprised of 19 teams navigated their programmed LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots through a maze of missions and obstacles.

There's a full story with a few pictures coming next Thursday in The Thames River Times.