KALISPELL — A team of talented students from West Valley School in Kalispell will soon be representing Montana on the biggest stage.
“It’s a big step, we’re the first team in this school to go, so a lot of excitement going around,” said sixth grade student Hap Pemble.
Pemble is one of eight students representing Kalispell’s West Valley School in the upcoming FIRST Lego League World Championships in Houston, Texas.
“I work mostly on innovation, designing the board and doing the research.”
Watch the full story:
The West Valley team, called the “Gummy Sharks” were recently selected to represent the state of Montana and will be competing against 100 teams from all across the world.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking, but still you have to remind yourself to have fun, even though it’s kind of nerve-wracking, but still we’re representing Montana and that is a little nerve-wracking,” said Pemble.
The FIRST Lego League supports STEM education through building robots that complete various tasks. Teams work on coding for their robots and build out presentations on their design.
“The opportunity for these kids to go and compete on the world stage like this, I’m extremely proud of them, they put in so much hard work, dedicated so much time,” said Gummy Sharks Coach Kris Keller.
Keller said the team needs to raise $20,000 to help with travel, overnight accommodations and special visits to NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the Houston Zoo during the competition.
“This is an outside of school project; this is an extracurricular activity here at West Valley and so having the students work this hard and have the opportunity to go is really exciting.”
Sixth grade student Caleb Kruger is excited to learn about new cultures from around the world.
“Probably just like getting to see what people bring and how they represent their country.”
Gummy Sharks team roster:
- Fifth Grade - Kody Mangis
- Sixth Grade - Andrew Willis
- Sixth Grade - Brandon Hemmelman
- Sixth Grade - Hap Pemble
- Sixth Grade - Owen Banek
- Sixth Grade - Caleb Krueger
- Seventh Grade - Henry Weber
- Eighth Grade - Marcus Bedtelyon
You can support the team's efforts to get to Houston here or by reaching out to coach Keller directly at kkeller@westwalleyschool.com
