St James Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lafayette, Inc.

The St. James Lutheran Crusader B0ts FIRST LEGO League team has been invited to the FIRST LEGO League Challenge World Championship in Houston, Texas. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our small school with less than 0.5% of all FLL teams getting invited. This is our second year as a Lego League team. We are a team that consists of 9 students ranging from 8th grade to 4th grade. We have four 4th-grade students, one 5th-grader, three 6th-graders, and one 8th-grade student. We have been successful this season because, as a group, we work so well together. The overall Lego League theme this year is Submerged. Our team decided that we wanted to use the theme and create a video game that educates people about pollution in the ocean. In our first competition, we received the Core Values trophy, which qualified our team for Semi-State. At Semi-State, our team again excelled in the Core Values category and increased our number of challenges completed during our missions, qualifying us for the Indiana State Competition. We continued working and added to our presentation, which included a song that we had made, and then at the Indiana State competition, we received one of the three Champion’s Award FINALISTS. Throughout this season, we’ve leaned on God throughout all our challenges with the robot and creating the video game. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Typically, being the 4th highest scoring team in Indiana doesn’t include an invitation to the World Championship, but this year, they’ve reached out and allowed us to compete. This is short notice, so we’ve got to get funds together quickly! The cost for the trip will be around $12500. We have been greatly blessed by God throughout this season, especially because this is the first time any team from St. James has made it beyond the first round of competition. We will continue to have Faith that God will provide us a path towards this amazing opportunity. Matthew 17:20 says, ”Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.” We greatly appreciate support at any level.

The breakdown for the trip costs are:

Cost

Registration $2,000

Plane Tickets

$600 X 12= 7200

Hotel Room

~$250 per night

9 kids- 3 rooms/ 3 nights= $2250

Food for 12= $1050

Estimated Total

$12,500