Keep FIRST in Michigan (FiM) from killing FIRST Lego League

[Lisa Perez]

Before this past season, I coached 8 years-worth of 7th and 8th grade FLL teams. Like many others upon hearing about the age guidelines, I was extremely concerned about the readiness of late elementary school students for the FLL program and middle school students for the FTC program. I gave those age guidelines a try with 2 FLL teams and 1 FTC team this past season. I'll tell you what - Those students had an absolute blast and have been raving about going through the FLL-FTC-FRC progression.

My main point is - If the resources are there, give the guidelines a try! You might find yourself pleasantly surprised about how well things go.