In recent weeks the Ligerbots, Newton’s dual-high-school FIRST robotics team, has been very busy:

• During a six-week designated “build season,” the team designed and built Thanos, a brand new robot for this year’s competition, Destination: Deep Space. This entailed working six days a week as well as through the February school break.
• Five team members and a mentor participated in the two-day FIRST Southern New England Advocacy Conference (SNEAC), learning about legislative advocacy for FIRST and STEM initiatives and then practicing what they learned in meetings on Beacon Hill with Newton’s legislators and/or their staff.
• This weekend, the team participated in its first FIRST competition of the season, the Southeastern Massachusetts District Event, in Bridgewater. The team joined an alliance that made it into the semi-finals.