Shoalhaven's own superstars of STEM have returned from America with a quirky trophy.
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The Blockstars robotics team is made up of five students aged between 14 and 17. After taking out the national robotics championship in December, they qualified for a place in the International US Open Tournament at Legoland in California - and took third.
"There are about 30000 teams worldwide and 1000 in Australia," said team leader Jess Weakley.
"We felt very lucky to compete. The competition was held over three days and we were really excited to see how we stacked up against teams from around the world.
"The highlight was meeting a team from Zimbabwe, who's government had only approved the time for them to compete, with no margin [to visit the US].
"We were very blessed to connect with them and hope to continue to mentor them as they begin their journey [in robotics]."
The team placed third, and were rewarded with a Lego trophy - super-glued together.
They raised about $16000 to make the trip, and on July 30, thanked Shoalhaven City Council for its $5000 contribution.
"Council are proud to be able to assist local students in expanding their STEM-based learning whilst also representing not just the country, but the Shoalhaven," Mayor Amanda Findley said.
Ms Weakley is too old to compete again, abut says the experience has given her a passion for STEM. She hopes to study engineering at the Australian National University.
