VERONA —  Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School District (VVS) held the first-ever Battle of the Bots Lego competition on Saturday, Feb. 4, so that elementary school students could show off their building and coding skills.

The three LEGO FIRST robotics teams — the Sherrill Shark-O-Bots, the Vernon Dream Machine and the Verona Vipers — competed in three different events. First was the core values presentation, then the innovation project presentation and the robotic performance.

Thomas Feola, elementary computer science teacher, helped organize the event for the students. He was also the announcer at the Battle of the Bots event.

"We didn’t have a local regional that went off, so being a teacher leader here at VVS, I decided to work with the robotics coaches and bring something local for our students to be able to replicate a real performance or competition," Feola said.

The teams had 20 minutes to complete each task, and there were three two-and-a-half minute sessions for the robotic performance, which was held in front of a crowd of excited families and fans.

During the robotic performances, the students stood around a brightly colored FIRST LEGO League table that was covered with different Lego builds, and cheered as their robots completed the assigned tasks.

The Sherrill Shark-O-Bots scored 22 out of 24 points for the core values presentation, 35 out of 40 points in the innovation project presentation and 165 points for the robotic performance.

The Vernon Dream Machine scored 16 points in the core values presentation, 29 points in the innovations project and 200 for the robotic performance.

The Verona Vipers scored 21 points in the core values presentation, 32 points in the innovation project presentation and 215 points for the robotic performance.

Feola said that overall, the event was successful in providing a learning experience for the students.

"Being the first time through this, there were some things to work through, but it went off pretty well. The kids got the good experience of having the three rotations and things like that," Feola said.

Feola thanked the VVS maintenance department, the robotics coaches, the event judges, the principals and administrators who support the robotics program, and the friends and families who attended and supported the students.

"I definitely would like to continue on, and our hope, down the road, is if we can grow this into something that involves other school districts," Feola said.