BRISTOL — The MAUSD ELP Middle School Robotics team, The Mad Catters, came together in the fall of 2024 under the leadership of Jodi Pierce to compete in the First Lego League robotics competition, a statewide event open to teams of students in 5th-8th grades. This was the group’s first year as a team, which included seven students from all four MAUSD elementary schools as well as the Mt. Abe Middle School.

Over 12 weeks team members bonded over different robotics challenges from FLL, starting with building their robot and continuing through adjusting the design, writing a presentation to explain their thinking, coming up with their team name and logo, and working together as a team.

The Mad Catters confidently entered the qualifying competition in Shelburne in early December ready to compete. They went up against 23 other teams from around the state, many of whom had competed in this event for over a decade. After a full, grueling day of presentations on their design, on-board robotics challenges against other teams, and countless nail-biting moments, the team was awarded the Design Award for the best design at the competition. With this win the Mad Catters continued on to the final state competition in mid-January against nine other teams.