SAP, the world leading business application software provider continues with investment in Education across Nigeria with a showcase event to launch the 2016/2017 season of the FIRST LEGO League; a program which the Organisation has sponsored continually in Lagos Nigeria for 3 years running.

The program is coordinated by Coderina, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that promotes Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. The 2016/2017 FIRST® LEGO® League, with a theme aptly titled Animal Allies is an exciting and fun global robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids ages 9 to 16 in Nigeria and around the world.

The positive impact of First Lego League (FLL), sponsored by SAP, has on participants is gratifying and growing as over 88% are more interested in doing well in school, and 87% have more interest in attaining higher education.

With over 255,000 participants; 32,000 teams and 1,464 events in 88 countries since launch, the 2016-2017 sessions in Nigeria will hold on 15th and 18th of January, in Lagos and Abuja, respectively.

In an interview with Nigeria CommunicationsWeek immediately after inspecting the pre-demo session in Lagos on Thursday, Katrina Adams, FIRST AmeriCorps VISTA member for FIRST Lego League, visiting Nigeria for the first time, said that the proven and verifiable impacts of the program are the major motivating factors the sponsors will continue to seek new ways of reaching out to young people to embrace Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M).

FIRST LEGO League: In 1998, Dean Kamen, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) founder and Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the owner of the LEGO Group joined forces to create FIRST LEGO League. This platform remains a powerful program that engages children in playful and meaningful learning while helping them discover the fun in science and technology through the FIRST LEGO League experience.

Adams speaks to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on other rationales for supporting the program in Africa: “We are inspiring the youths to create things by opening their minds to the opportunities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). On why we are highly interested in Africa, it is obvious that engineers across the world enable changes in their immediate environment by creating things, most times, out of nothing or transforming the situation they found themselves (their countries) to a better one. We want Africans (the school children) that from the shoes they wear, the toothpaste, the cloth, body lotions, etc., there are elements of science or engineering involved. They have to develop their minds towards becoming problem solvers.

“Africa is faced by multifaceted challenges like electricity, health, telecommunications, transportation, aviation, among others; we in America have no electricity problem, because someone thought about solving that problem many years ago. This is the time for Africans to take the bull by the horns.

“Even among the African- Americans they need to understand this, ‘We got the brain to solve problems. I have been championing this course among them too and they are beginning to appreciate the fact their children can as well leverage the opportunities in STEM to enable a turn-around in their environment”.

Speaking on the important of the program towards developing girl-child’s interest in Science related courses, she said, “FIRST LEGO is that sure League for “Tomorrow’s innovators practice imaginative thinking and teamwork. And girls are not left behind. I believe girls should know that the wigs, the lipsticks, and beautiful makeups they wear are actually products of science. By the time they have the message on their sub-conscious mind they will actually get attuned to the potentials in the fields of engineering. That is our key drive”.

On sponsorships, Adams added that through the visit she now has firsthand knowledge on the needs of teachers and students in science classes.  “I have seen that the teachers need support. So, I am going to make case or appeal for more equipment be made available to them like laptop computers and every child deserves to be taken care of, especially in the academic environment.”

Earlier while welcoming delegates from different education districts in Lagos State, Titilayo Oguntola (Mrs), director and head of Department, Co-Curricular, Science and Technology, Education District VI Ministry of Education Lagos, urged the participating students and schools to leverage the opportunity in developing twenty-first Century (21st Century) critical thinking and team-building skills and basic STEM knowledge, as well as presentation skills.

Oguntola also extolled SAP for continued interest in supporting the events, adding that the schools still require more tools to step-up their STEM-knowledge transfer to the students.

Olajide Ademola Ajayi from SAP and also the coordinator of FLL Nigeria, who was represented by Abraham Ekeodoh, coordinator of Coderina, said that the program embodies the tons of fun students have while they learn to apply science, technology, engineering, and math concepts (STEM), plus a big dose of imagination, to solve problems.

Also speaking on behalf of national coordinator, FLL (Nigeria) said that the students are expected to design, build, program a robot using LEGO Mindstorms® technology, then compete on a thematic table playing field.

Along their discovery journey, they develop critical thinking and team-building skills, basic STEM applications, and even presentation skills, as they must present their solutions with a dash of creativity to judges. They also practice the Program’s signature Core Values.

On the 2016/2017 theme: Animal Allies, he said “It is all about our furry, feathered, and finned friends. In the 2016/2017 FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge teams of students age 9 to 16 will look into the eyes of our Animal Allies. What might become possible when we learn to help each other? During the challenges, kids are to think like scientists and engineers by building, testing, and programming an autonomous robot using Lego Mindstorms® to solve a set of missions in the Robot Game. They will also choose and solve a real-world question in the Project. Throughout their experience, teams will operate under FLL’s signature set of Core Values”.

Over the years FLL has prioritized inculcating its core values in the kids. The Core Values are the cornerstones of the program as they are among the fundamental elements that distinguish the League from other programs of its kind.

“By embracing the Core Values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork,” FLL believes.