Competitions

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Near the end of each semester we hold two competitions. Robot Challenge is a Lego robot competition. MediaFest is a new media movie festival for Flash Animation, Web Creations, and Digital Video. You can see student projects submitted to these events on our Showcase. Rules for these competitions may be found under the Lego Robots and Flash Animation activities.

The competition is the culminating event of the semester. It's motivation for students to work hard on their projects and finish them. Students say the excitement of showing their work and meeting students from other schools is what makes their clubs fun.

The events are held in school auditoriums or gymnasiums. Participating schools donate the space and pay the janitor, so there is no room rental cost. We rent a popcorn machine and provide free popcorn and soda. We borrow computer projection and sound equipment from the school. The total cost is about $250 for the popcorn machine, drinks, and awards.

Students, parents, siblings, and teachers are all invited. Typically 50-100 people come from 4-6 schools per event. The events usually run 1:00-4:00PM on a Saturday afternoon. Everyone seems to have a lot of fun.

We give out trophies or ribbons to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category and everyone gets a ribbon of some sort. The trophies often end up in a school display case.