TEMPLE, Texas — A group of Western Hills Elementary School students is gearing up to make history this weekend. The school’s Rockin’ Roadrunners Robotics Team will become the first Temple Independent School District elementary robotics team to compete in a FIRST LEGO League Challenge (FLLC) in at least ten years when the team competes in an FLLC Qualifier in Waco on Saturday (January 17).
This is the first year of the team’s existence and the Western Hills team consists of nine students from fourth and fifth grade. Only one of the students involved with the team had participated in a program similar to the FIRST LEGO League before. The other students became interested through their participation in summer STEM camps offered by Temple ISD, or in one instance, from the Spring Into STEM event the district hosted.
“We went to a STEM event in the spring, and I had a chance to learn a little bit about coding and LEGOs, and I turned to my dad and said, I want to do this,” said Clementine Eaton, a fourth grader at Western Hills. “I have never done this before, and I really wanted to try it.”
Westen Hills third-grade teacher Jordan Nelson took on the responsibility of coaching the team after working the Spring Into STEM event and her sister, a teacher in Florida, told her about the program and encouraged her to start a FIRST team. The group started working toward this challenge in September and Nelson is impressed with the progress and growth they have shown since the beginning of the year.
“Early on, when something didn’t work, they gave up and said it was too hard,” Nelson said. “Now, when they are not successful, they go right back into the code and ask how they can tweak or change it so that it works. They are learning how to have failure, but to turn that failure into success instead of just shutting down.”
The students had to research, design, and build an innovation project related to the field of archeology to tie in with the challenge’s “Unearthed” theme. The students built a sifter out of LEGOs and will present that project to a panel of judges as part of the challenge. The team also had to design, build, and code a robot to compete in a series of missions. The team will have three matches of two and a half minutes each to complete as many of the 15 total robot missions as possible to accumulate points. The final component of the challenge consists of how team members model and exhibit the core values of LEGO League (discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun) during the competition. The project has been student driven, with Nelson and fellow coaches Sarah Thomas, Chelsea Elliott, and Xzadiya Walker serving more as self-described supervisors and mentors. The Western Hills team will also be competing against middle school students and homeschool teams during the challenge.
“Having the fun and teamwork has been the best part of this,” fourth grader Zanoah Montgomery said. “I learned that it takes time to develop these projects. I am really excited about the competition, and I am looking forward to seeing how well we can do.”
“Learning how to code has been really fun,” Eaton said. “I am interested in this because I could go on to code video games or do software development. Just getting to see what other teams are doing is exciting and I am looking forward to being a part of the competition.”
In addition to learning coding, engineering principals, and research and communication skills, team members have also learned about teamwork, collaboration, and problem-solving. Nelson also hopes the experience has provided the students with some other new perspectives.
“I want them to see all of the options that are out there in the world,” Nelson said. “There are things out there besides nurse, doctor, or teacher. I want them to experience it and think that this is kind of cool and that they can do this. It has been so rewarding to see them learn the teamwork and seeing the excitement that comes when they get it and have success.”
The students also say they are excited about being pioneers in the FLLC for Temple ISD as the first Western Hills team to compete in the FIRST LEGO League Challenge.
“I like it and it feels good because I have never been a part of a team that has done something for the first time,” Montgomery said.
“I love it because this is the first-ever team at Western Hills, but since there haven’t been any teams before us, we really don’t have any examples to go by or follow,” Eaton added.
“The launch of the Rockin’ Roadrunners’ first competitive season is a direct result of a shared vision and partnership between Temple ISD, Meta, and LEGO Education,” said Ashley Jones, director of digital learning for Temple ISD. “What began as a spark at our 2025 ’Bricks and Bots’ summer camp has grown into a full-scale robotics program. We are incredibly proud to provide our youngest learners with the resources they need to innovate and compete in 2026.”
The top scoring teams from the FLLC Qualifier will advance to the Central Texas Area Tournament in February. Nelson says she hopes to see the robotics program continue to grow at Western Hills and there are already plans to add a second team next school year.