CFSD Robotics Teams Dig Deep and Strike Gold at "UNEARTHED" Tournament

The future of archaeology and innovation was on full display Saturday, December 13, as Orange Grove Middle School hosted the FIRST Lego League regional tournament. Seven Catalina Foothills School District teams competed in this year's "UNEARTHED" challenge. During this archaeology-inspired season, students used STEM skills and teamwork to dig into the past and discover solutions for the future. And our teams didn't just participate. They dug deep.This impressive showing is the result of Catalina Foothills Community Schools' commitment to providing high-quality services and enrichment that meet the needs and interests of our students and families. The FLL Robotics program, led by STEM Integration Specialists Charlotte Ackerman (Sunrise Drive), Noah Mickey-Colman (Ventana Vista), Jocelyn Smerz (Manzanita), Maura Baker (Manzanita), and math teacher Buddy George (CFHS), exemplifies how Community Schools builds partnerships, shares resources, and creates a sense of community and belonging through strong relationships. Through a 14-week program, students work together to address real-world challenges in engineering, programming, problem-solving, and research, preparing them with the tools to succeed in a rapidly changing world.The tournament's keynote speaker was Gary Christopherson, who is an Associate Professor of Practice in the School of Geography & Development and an expert in Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (GIDP). His work showed students how cutting-edge science, data, and imagination can shape the world, and his message was the perfect spark to kick off this year’s “Unearthed” challenge. As a surprise gift, he handed out shards of 500-600-year-old pottery, delighting the students in attendance.

Glyph Gang Capture Champion's AwardGlyph Gang claimed the tournament's highest honor: the Champion's Award, recognizing overall excellence across all competition areas: robot performance, innovation project, robot design, and core values. This team of sixth-graders also swept both the Robot Performance Award (highest score in competition) and the Fun Run Robot Performance (highest score of the day).
Their winning innovation? An experimental archaeology simulation designed to engage students in interpreting and valuing petroglyphs, the ancient rock carvings that tell stories of cultures long past.
Team Members:

• Sebastian Bonomolo (6th grade, out-of-district)
• David Bui (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Lucas Byrne (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Max Hao (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Graham Martin (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Elise Peterson (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Aaheli Shil (6th grade, Orange Grove)

Coaches: Charlotte Ackerman (Sunrise Drive School Improvement Specialist) and Nancy Hsiao (Community Volunteer)
Mentors: Jocelyn Smerz (Manzanita School Improvement Specialist) and Nathan Wu, Ethan Lin, Christian Pierson, and Owen Cantor-Goldner (Catalina Foothills High School Pioneer Robotics Team members)

Robot Game ExcellenceThe Terracotta Worms achieved an incredible 2nd Place in the Robot Game with a top score of 315 points! Beyond their technical prowess, this team was honored with the Peer Award, voted on by fellow FLL teams, recognizing the team that demonstrates the best spirit, helpfulness, and Gracious Professionalism.
Team Members:

• Nico Alvarez (4th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Rebecca Black (5th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Peter Nathalang (5th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Stella Obler (5th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Aaron Urbina (4th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Blake Brasfield (8th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Cyrus Candlish (7th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Beckett Latcham (6th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Brooke Miller (6th grade, Esperero Canyon)

Right behind them, Bomb Voyage tied for 3rd Place in the Robot Game with a remarkable score of 300 points!
Team Members:

• Lilly Candlish (5th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Javier Colon (4th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Sylvia Goldstein (5th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Bryce Hartle (4th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Henry Kiser (5th grade, Ventana Vista)
• Conner Flaherty (7th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Kaelin Greer (6th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Landry Henderson (6th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Claire Varden (8th grade, Esperero Canyon)

Innovation Takes Many Forms
The Fragment Finders earned the Innovation Project Award for their cutting-edge AI pottery sherd identification app, "Fragment Find," designed specifically for Arizona potsherds. This cross-district team developed technology that could transform how archaeologists identify and catalog ancient pottery fragments.
Team Members:

• Ishwari Bandopadhay (5th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Jotham David (4th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Aiden Pires (4th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Amelie Puell (5th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Theodore Thome (4th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Daniel Trombetta (4th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Opal Vinal (5th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Ethan Xue (5th grade, Out of District)
• Melody Yu (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Ethan Dockins (5th grade, Ventana Vista)

Teamwork and Respect Recognized
The Rock Stars received the Core Values Award, which celebrates teams that demonstrate extraordinary enthusiasm, teamwork, and respect, for creating a trail guide to help hikers find and identify ancient metates and mortars in Catalina State Park.
Team Members:

• Lucian Calvert (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Adam Elitzer (4th grade, Manzanita)
• Hartley Emms (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Marshall Hayden (4th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Turner Jason (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Kaveh Parseghian (4th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Charlie Teeple (4th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Connor Yau (6th grade, Orange Grove)

Engineering Excellence
The Cool Corps took home the Robot Design Award for their innovative engineering solution: hemp pop-up tent covers that significantly lower temperatures for archaeologists working under the harsh Arizona sun. Their experiments demonstrated the practical applications of engineering to improve fieldwork conditions.
Team Members:

• Damon Hayden (7th grade, Orange Grove)
• Nicholas Huttenhoff (5th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Kodi Iatarola (5th grade, Sunrise Drive)
• Nathaniel Musil (7th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Jackson Smith (7th grade, Orange Grove)
• Brendan Sult (7th grade, Orange Grove)
• Cillian Walsh (7th grade, Orange Grove)

Virtual Archaeology Preserved
The Maize Masters earned 5th Place Robot Performance while tackling a vital preservation challenge. Their Scratch-based virtual dig recreates the Las Capas archaeological site. This critically important location now sits beneath a wastewater treatment plant, ensuring this significant site can still be explored digitally.
Team Members:

• Natasha Jain (6th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Dylan Pan (6th grade, out-of-district)
• Michael Stefano (8th grade, Orange Grove)
• Kason Strunk (6th grade, Orange Grove)
• Colin Wilhelm (6th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Liam Wilhelm (6th grade, Esperero Canyon)
• Richelle Yang (7th grade, out-of-district)
• Yihan Yang (7th grade, out-of-district)

The UNEARTHED Challenge
This year's FIRST Lego League theme—"Every Artifact Tells a Story—What Will YOU Discover?"—invited teams to explore archaeology through three exciting components:

1. Build Your Team – Work together, solve problems, and have fun!
2. Robot Missions – Design, build, and program a LEGO robot to complete action-packed challenges.
3. Innovation Project – Create a new tool or technology to help people discover, preserve, or share stories across time and culture.

Teams designed and programmed autonomous LEGO robots to complete missions on an archaeology-themed challenge mat, developed innovative solutions to problems faced by archaeologists, and presented their research to judges, all while embodying the FIRST Core Values of teamwork, discovery, innovation, and inclusion. The competition evaluates teams across four equally weighted areas: robot game performance, innovation project presentation, robot design and programming, and demonstration of core values.


Community Support
CFSD thanks volunteers and parents Justine Annucci-Bonomolo and Nik Gruber for their leadership in organizing this tournament. Their dedication created an inspiring environment where young innovators could showcase their talents and celebrate the spirit of FIRST Lego League. Events like these succeed because of volunteers like them, who invest their time and expertise to create meaningful experiences for our students. A special thank you to all the staff, students, and families who came out on Saturday to cheer on our teams. Your support truly embodies our school spirit and inspires these young innovators to reach even greater heights. A special shout-out goes to Catalina Foothills High School's Pioneer Robotics for emceeing, mentoring, and leading the Cupid Shuffle. You are terrific role models for our younger FLL students.
Congratulations to all seven CFSD teams for representing our district with excellence, creativity, and the kind of innovative thinking that will shape the future, whether in archaeology or any field they choose to pursue.

You can support extracurricular activities like this through your Arizona school tax credit donation. Just click here for more information.

FIRST Lego League is an international STEM education program that introduces students ages 9-14 to engineering, research, and problem-solving through robotics competitions and project-based learning.