Jersey-bound: Oshkosh LEGO team Baksteen Valken headed to national tournament

Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern
·2 min read
Team Baksteen Valken celebrate their Robot Design award at last month’s state championships. Back row, from left: Cora Volkening, Yui Watanabe, Caiden Kim, Barakat Akinyele and Julian Morris. Front row: Aisha Akinyele, Emily Kasubaski, Tyler Ellifson and Ellen Volkening.
Team Baksteen Valken celebrate their Robot Design award at last month’s state championships. Back row, from left: Cora Volkening, Yui Watanabe, Caiden Kim, Barakat Akinyele and Julian Morris. Front row: Aisha Akinyele, Emily Kasubaski, Tyler Ellifson and Ellen Volkening.

OSHKOSH ― The kids are now heading to Jersey.

Oshkosh LEGO team Baksteen Valken will compete at the American Robotics Invitational in East Rutherford, New Jersey, having impressed at the recent FIRST LEGO League Wisconsin Championship.

Competing among 26 top-ranked teams at the state tournament in Madison, Baksteen Valken earned a Robot Design award while placing fourth in the robot game to qualify for the FLL invitational on May 18 and 19.

“The kids are super excited about their trip because many of them have never been to the East Coast before and they’re also doing what they love,” said team coach Amy Hardy.

This year’s national competition will feature 52 teams from 41 FLL regions including New York, Virginia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

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It’s been an impressive run for a nine-member Oshkosh robotics team that won the Innovation Project award, placed second in the robot matches and was a runner-up for the Tournament Champion award while competing at the Janesville regional tournament.

Baksteen Valken, Dutch for "Brick Falcon," also contested the Waukesha Sectional, winning a Core Values award and placing third overall for the robot game high score to earn a spot at last month’s state championship in Madison.

Baksteen Valken is tackling climate control through their project A.R.C.H.

HIGH FIVE!: Cora Volkening (left) celebrating with teammate Barakat Akinyele.
HIGH FIVE!: Cora Volkening (left) celebrating with teammate Barakat Akinyele.

FLL squads are asked to conceptualize a project that solves real-world problems and this year Baksteen Valken decided to tackle climate control with their robotics project A.R.C.H. — the Archive and Repository for Continuing Humanity.

It’s conceptualized as a monument containing a vault designed to preserve and protect Earth’s languages, knowledge and biodiversity against any possible climate change disasters.

New preschool opens: New preschool, Trio Explorers, opens in Oshkosh. An open house is Jan. 31.

To learn more about A.R.C.H., visit the team’s website, https://arch-baksteenvalken.my.canva.site/.

Baksteen Valken has also set up a fundraising platform at https://www.mightycause.com/story/Bvart, where interested parties can learn more about the Oshkosh-based kids' robotics team.

Have a story tip or public interest concern? Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh LEGO robotics team qualifies for national tournament