MS Robotics team hosts flea market fundraiser

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

It was a busy day at Charles City Middle School on Sunday, May 5, as the school’s FIRST LEGO League team hosted its first annual Middle School Robotics Fundraiser.

Featuring a flea market of local vendors, food trucks, and a variety of robotics demonstrations and activities, the school was packed with people coming out to enjoy the shopping and events.

“We’re super excited about the turnout,” said co-coach Kelsey VanderWerf. “We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.”

The afternoon fundraiser had something for everybody. Local vendors had collectibles, crafts, baked goods and more on sale for the browsing while museum tickets, artwork and other donated goods were up for bids at the silent auction.

For the kids, a series of STEAM activities were open to try, with challenges like crafting paper airplanes, paper chains and cup stacking. Outside, a paper rocket launch pad was set up for kids to see how high they could get their handcrafted ships to fly.

The main event for the day was the robotics exhibition tournament as 12 teams from CCMS and IC demonstrated what Lego League is all about by putting robots through the paces of an actual course in front of an audience of onlookers.

“I hope this helps people see the cool stuff happening in Charles City schools,” said co-coach Patrick Nyberg.

The fundraiser will support the Charles City Cosmic Snowballs, who are planning a trip to Florida to participate in the Florida Sunrise Invitational in Daytona Beach this June. There they will represent Iowa in a contest against teams from across the nation and world.

Sponsors and donations had already gotten the Cosmic Snowballs most of the way toward their fundraising goal, but proceeds from the fundraiser will get them the rest of the way.

Currently, the Lego League team is part of the middle school’s TAG program, but next year a fully fledged robotics club will be established to open the team to the whole school. Extra proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward supporting new teams next year.

“There was a lot of work that went into this,” said Nyberg. “We couldn’t have done it without our volunteers and our sponsors.”