Youth from all over the metropolitan area competed in the Omaha Climate Connections Challenge, a LEGO Robotics event that took place in mid-November. The tournament, held at the Creighton University campus, was the culmination of weeks of preparation by 9-to-14-year-old members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands. Teams competed to provide real-world global solutions through robot design and research.
The youth demonstrated their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship and sense of community. Consistent with AIM's mission to promote technology education, AIM helped sponsor this event, and Adam Haeder, AIM's vice president of Information Technology, served as a referee. The competition is sponsored nationally by FIRST, an acronym meaning "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology."
Award Winners:
 City Team: Omaha Robotics: Lightning Stars
Technical Awards:
Robot Design: Lightning Stars - Judges look for teams whose work stands out for innovation and/or dependability.
Robot Performance: Lightning Stars - This award goes to the team
whose robot achieves the best score on the competition field or in the
elimination round.
 North Club: North Club Robos
Teamwork Award: North Club Robos - FLL presents this award to the team that best demonstrates
extraordinary enthusiasm, an exceptional partnership, and the practice
of FLL values.
Project Champion: North Club Robos - FLL presents the Project Award to the team whose quality research,
innovative solutions, and creative presentation best reflect an
in-depth understanding of the various scientific disciplines and issues
involved with the Challenge project.
 South Club: Tech Tornadoes
Judges' Awards:
Against All Odds: Tech Tornadoes
Rising Star Award: Carter Lake Lakers
Team Spirit Award: MIRACLES Academy
 Carter Lake Club: Lakers
Special Recognition Award:
Outstanding Volunteer/Coach: Tech Tornadoes – Shelley Kelly
Judges: Cathleen Brown & Myles Jones
Referees: Adam Haeder & Aarthi Parthasarathy
Head Referee: Jason Orduna
 Westside Club: MIRACLES Academy
“Our members love LEGO Robotics. This is our third tournament. We are excited to partner with Creighton University’s Computer Science department and the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s NUCIA group to host the tournament at Creighton University because our members get to show off their science, technology and teamwork skills,” said Fred Schott, CEO/president of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands.
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