Oak Creek Girl Scouts compete in state robotics competition

Six girl members of Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, all students at Carlton Elementary School and Oak Creek Middle School in Oak Creek, competed at the December 8 FIRST ® LEGO® League “Senior Solutions™” Challenge State Competition held at Mukwonago High School.

Applying research and robotics to explore improving quality of life for seniors, Abigail Aiken, Katie Meyer, Jordanne Orlowski, Madison Padget, Keely Repinski, and Capri Repinski, also known as the Silver Ladies Team, were among the twenty-six girl members of Girl Scouts Wisconsin Southeast that competed on four separate teams incorporating creativity and science to help seniors stay independent, engaged and connected.

The Girl Scouts, with support from coaches Craig Meyer, Jill Meyer, Cheryl Orlowski and Eric Padget,researched one of today’s most relevant topics: aging, and how to counter the effects of aging while maintaining a good quality of life. With missions including mobility, flexibility, balance, and memory, the teams programmed their LEGO MINDSTORMS® robots to further explore these issues.

Sponsored by Time Warner Cable Wisconsin, the Silver Ladies were among the 230 teams in the state of Wisconsin that competed in one of eight regional tournaments and the 59 teams that earned the right to advance to the State Tournament this year.

Participation in the FLL is just one of many ways Girl Scouts introduces girls of every age to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities that are relevant to everyday life. Whether they're discovering how a car's engine runs, becoming math whizzes, or learning about careers in STEM fields, girls are moving forward into the future. They can design Web sites, plan for space exploration, visit geological sites and more.