Kennewick students headed to state LEGO competition

Two teams from Kennewick’s Mid-Columbia Partnership are headed to a state LEGO tournament after winning recently at a regional event.

The teams, The Donut Pirates and The Voltage Vikings, also took home the Gracious Professionalism Award and the Strategy and Innovation Award, respectively, a release said. Julie Rheinschmidt is the teacher adviser to both teams.

The FIRST LEGO League pits teams of elementary and middle school-aged students against each other to develop autonomous robots using LEGO kits to solve problems.

The Mid-Columbia Partnership is an alternative learning program offered by the Kennewick School District that gives families greater flexibility and more of a role in their children’s education.

The two teams will head to Eastern Washington University in mid-January for the state competition.

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Kennewick students headed to state LEGO competition."