Geelong Lutheran College Armstrong Creek’s two robotics teams are through to their respective international events following their success at this weekend’s FIRST LEGO League National Championship South.

At the competition held in Tasmania on Saturday 16 December, the SEMATICS 101 team, made up of five Year 6 students took out first place. The team will now advance to the Asia Pacific Open Competition to be held in Sydney from 4 - 7 July 2024.

The SEMATICS 102 team, comprising seven Secondary School students in Years 7 – 9, will also be travelling to compete internationally next year, after placing second at the weekend’s national competition. The team and coaches Mrs Jane Hollett and Mr Greg Hollett, will take part in the FIRST 2024 CHAMPIONSHIP, which will be held in Houston, Texas, USA from 17 – 20 April 2024. Over 90 countries will be represented with a total of 160 teams competing.

SEMATICS 102 team member and Year 9 student Elijah Blyton was overjoyed his team will advance to the international competition:

“SEMATICS 102 qualified for the Worlds in Houston, Texas, which until Saturday was only a dream. Thanks to Mr and Mrs Hollett and our amazing team, my wildest dream is coming true”, said Elijah.

In addition to the success of the two teams, GLC staff member and one of the coaches of GLC’s SEMATICS teams, Mrs Jane Hollett, received the Coach/Mentor Award at the National Competition for her efforts in coaching the GLC teams.

Year 7 student and fellow member of the SEMATICS 102 team, Maggie Porra was full of praise for their coach:

“Mrs Hollett is a dedicated and encouraging coach who helped us to learn the importance of teamwork and perseverance. She thoroughly deserves the award.”

GLC Head of College, Ms Jill Lange-Mohr OAM was delighted on hearing the news of the teams’ successes in Tasmania:

“We are just so thrilled and excited for our robotics students and their coaches, who have been hard at work for much of this year working on their robots and innovation projects”, said Ms Lange-Mohr OAM.

“The whole GLC community is behind our SEMATICS teams and we look forward to them flying the GLC and Australian flags at next year’s international competitions in Sydney and Houston.”

“The teams’ successes are a testament to our students, Mrs and Mr Hollett for their mentorship and leadership, and how our College’s STEM curriculum and SEMATICS extra-curricular program are setting up our students for a bright future ahead.”