The “North 40” team from Garrett County Public School’s FIRST LEGO League recently competed at the American Open Invitational FIRST LEGO League Robotics Competition. They were named FINALIST for the event’s top award, the Champion’s Award, and competed against forty-two other teams at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ. “North 40” consists of four students from Northern Garrett Middle School, including three eighth-graders named Jessalyn Simmons, Eden Rankin, and Brady Garlitz, and one seventh-grader named Jayna Shipley. The team is coached by Dr. Jennifer Rankin and Northern Middle science teacher Mrs. Lorie Burdock and is one of the sixteen teams supported by Garrett County Public Schools’ High School Robotics Program, known as GaCo.
“North 40” earned an invitation to compete at the American Open Invitational after being named a finalist for the same award at the Maryland State FIRST LEGO League Championship. The team was among the top seventy teams in Maryland and competed at UMBC in Baltimore in February. Prior to that, “North 40” won the same award at the Garrett Qualifier held earlier that same month.
