Enrich, Inspire & Engage at REACH
First Lego League Robotics Challenge for Grades 4 - 8
Join REACH Foundation in Changing Lives
The REACH First Lego League Robotics Challenge teams wrapped up an incredible season, showcasing creativity, teamwork, and innovation at the Regional Tournament. Competing against 42 teams, the Golden Cubs achieved an impressive 7th place in the Robot Game, while the Robotic Chickens and Deep Sea Divers placed in the top 50%, demonstrating exceptional skill and determination. The AquaKnots delivered an impressive innovation project on exploring the ocean with less environmental impact while increasing accessibility to those with disabilities.
A special highlight came with the F.I.R.E. S.H.A.R.K.S., who earned the prestigious "Rising All Star" Award. This recognition celebrates the outstanding growth and potential of all five REACH FLL teams during their rookie year—a testament to their dedication and commitment to excellence.
Congratulations to the students, coaches, and parents who poured their time and energy into making this season such a success. Your hard work has laid a strong foundation for future achievements, and we can’t wait to see what you accomplish next year!
Congratulations on a successful competition season, teams!
Spring Season Begins in Feb., 2025
For students in 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Grade, the Spring Showdown Season will begin the week of Feb. 24th. The spring program will focus on robotics, building missions and coding to empower students to tackle real-world challenges in a fun and collaborative environment. Click the link below to register.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
William Butler Yeatss
FLL Challenge Spring Showdown classes are Now open
REACH Foundation - Empowering STEM
Registration is open once a year in the Spring for new students. Students will be meeting after school on Fridays at the East (Travis Ranch) Hub and on Wednesdays at the West (Kraemer) Hub. Spaces are limited.
In the spring, students will be focused only on the Robot Game, Robot Design and Core Values, excluding the Innovation Project.
Teams will follow two Pathways: 1) Start-ups: for beginners to learn the FLL fundamentals and 2) Rev- ups: for advanced returning students to focus on developing more complex coding python, sensors and more. These two pathways are designed to support all students at their current learning levels and experience with FLL.
A parent information Zoom meeting is scheduled on Thursday, February 20th @ 5:30 PM, not on the 13th as previously communicated. The Zoom link has been emailed to registered parents. Please contact info@reach4pylusd.org if you would like to receive the link. Thank you.
Parent Meeting
Become a part of our community and help us create a love for STEM and Robotics at REACH. Click on the button below and sign up to attend our next Zoom Meeting.
REACH Foundation Teams Triumph at QualifieRS!
Promoting STEM Robotics Education
In an impressive display of dedication, ingenuity and teamwork, the REACH Foundation’s First Lego League (FLL) Qualifier Tournament on Nov. 9th, spotlighted six rookie teams representing seven schools within the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. Competing among 750 teams across Southern California, the PYL students from Travis Ranch, Kraemer, Golden, Fairmont, Woodsboro, Glenknoll, and OCCSS gave extraordinary performances.
Demonstrating exceptional skill in robotics, innovation, and core values, five out of the six teams earned a coveted spot in the upcoming Regional competition, marking a stellar debut season for PYLUSD. The Robotic Chickens won the first place award for the Innovation Project! The AquaKnots ranked second with the second highest robot score of 280 points, followed by Robotics Chicken (255 pts), Golden Cubs (240 pts), F.I.R.E. S.H.A.R.K.S. (175 pts) and Deep Sea Divers (165 pts).
The REACH Foundation’s robotics program united students from seven schools, introducing them to engineering principles, coding, and critical problem-solving. The tournament challenged students to build a robot, program complex missions, and present a research project with the SubMerged theme of underwater exploration, which encouraged an in-depth focus on innovative solutions and core values of teamwork, inclusion, and fun. Coach Mary Ahn stated, "What FLL has meant for me and the students is an opportunity to foster lifelong qualities of grit in problem-solving, building skills required for true and meaningful collaboration. Skills like listening to one another, willing to concede to a better or more efficient solution, seeing it from someone else’s perspective and having the flexibility to pivot. What I have witnessed in two seasons is that the results are stronger when teamwork is higher as each person’s perspective is another iteration to improvement."
“We are so proud of each team’s success and their dedication to learning through hands-on experience,” shared Gisele Nguyen, the REACH Foundation President. "Their achievements highlight the potential for STEM initiatives within our schools to inspire students of all backgrounds.”
With the Regional competition just around the corner, these rising stars from PYLUSD are already setting an impressive precedent, cementing the REACH Foundation’s commitment to fostering educational excellence and inspiring young minds to explore STEM careers.
Thank you, Mr. Tabata, Mr. Callaway, and Ms. Petrovacki, for your awesome support.
Congratulations to all the students involved!
Robotic Chickens (Zane Ahn, Pritesh Turakhia, Derek Luu, Parmis Mills, Paarin Mathur, Isa Khan, Mattias Cheung, Emmanuel Alvarez-Orbegoso)
AquaKnots (Nathan Keller, Claire Liu, Camden Reynolds, Ryder Yeh, Jason Hsu, Steven Yeh, Keitaro Tsuchiad)
Golden Cubs (Samihan, Shaligram, Caden Tran, Ian Yoon, Avaneesh Nagare, Preston Nguyen, Lucas Le, Raaghav Deoghare)
F.I.R.E. S.H.A.R.K.S. (Abigail Mulkey, Chloe Hibbard, Kensey Yoshida, Sophia Casillas, Ibrahim Sheikh, Katherin Pak, Jona Turin)
Deep Sea Divers (Vanshi Khant, Michelle Xu, Ritisha Ajay, Zachary Yim, Jonathan Cherdsuriya, Bentley Masters, Debaditya Bandyopadhyay)
Hero Hunting Techno Kids (Matthew Tam, Jordan Armand, Rustin Limoochi, Savya Bhimani, River Yeh, Layla Pham, Sean Choi)
FLL Coaches: Mary Ahn, Eric Keller, Madhura Shaligram, Heather Mulkey, Tina Thammasuckidi, Jignasu Khant, Ken Tam, and Mayank Bhimani.
REACH High School Interns: Jolie Yang, Aarav Patel, Angelo Messina, Shaurya Nagare Megan Wang and Aashna Patel.
Our Story in Pictures: REACH Foundation's Journey to Make a Difference
2023 Season - First Lego league Robotics
Welcome Glenknoll, Rose Drive, Sierra Vista and Woodsboro (Explore) to the REACH PYL FLL Program!
We are excited to announce that the REACH Foundation is gearing up for the upcoming First Lego League (FLL) Fall Season. As we prepare for this engaging educational program, we are currently collaborating with School Site Principals to organize the FLL sessions to be held as an afterschool program.
We look forward to providing a valuable and enriching experience for young innovators and builders in our community. We are committed to engaging and enriching students through innovative programs like the First Lego League.
Since 1998, about 675,000 students from 110 countries compete in the First Lego League Challenge each year.
Outstanding performance by PYL Teams!
Woodsboro Bee-Botics and Fairmont Pro-Kids!
The Woodsboro team and Fairmont Team closed a rookie season with a phenomenal performance at the FLL State Regionals on Saturday, December 2nd at California Baptist University in Riverside. We are thrilled to share an update on the exceptional performance of our PYL teams!
The Fairmont Pro-Kids team showcased their exceptional coding ability by achieving a high score of 310 points on the robot game, surpassing their Qualifier score by an impressive margin of 60 points. Overall, they placed 17th, in the top half with 39 teams competing. A tremendous achievement indeed! Congratulations to Zane Ahn, Tyler Pierson, Sophia Casillas, Nathan Keller, Sophia Li, Johnson Li, David Martinez, and their Coaches: Ms. Mary Ahn & Ms. Tina Thammasuckdi.
But the excitement doesn't end there—our Woodsboro Bee-Botics team not only raised the bar but soared above it with a phenomenal score of 370 points, placing 8th in this highly competitive State Regional tournament! Their dedication, hard work, and collaborative spirit truly paid off.
In a moment of immense pride, we are delighted to announce that the Woodsboro team also clinched the prestigious "Rising All-Star Award" 🥇. This accolade is a testament to their outstanding commitment, innovation, and the remarkable journey they've undertaken as a team and with their dedicated Coaches: Mr. Ken Tam and Ms. Madhura Shaligram.
These accomplishments not only reflect the incredible talents of our students but also highlight the support and guidance they received from our Principals: Mrs. Anne San Roman, Mrs. Melanie Carmona; Vice Principal: Mr. Eddie Tabata, dedicated coaches, high school Interns/mentors, and our community sponsors: Yorba Linda Sunrise Rotary, Placentia Rotary and the Gene Haas Foundation.
As we celebrate these victories, let's extend our heartfelt congratulations to both the Fairmont and Woodsboro teams. Their success is a shining example of what can be achieved through teamwork, perseverance, and a shared commitment to excellence.
Congrats to Allyson, Maya, Avaneesh, Eason, Samihan, Saanvi, and Naysa from the Woodsboro Be Team!
State Regional Competition at Cbu on Dec. 2nd, 2023
Congratulations to our 3 Award Winning Teams
Join REACH Foundation in Changing Lives
The REACH Foundation is proud to sponsor three award-winning teams in 2023!
“We are so proud of our Woodsboro team for earning first place for their Innovation Project and 3rd place overall in the competition, which boasted 24 teams,” shared Woodsboro Principal Melanie Carmona.
A Woodsboro parent reflected on her son’s experience with FLL, noting: “During the last 11 weeks, he has learned how discipline, hard work, perseverance, and teamwork can bring success and we can not thank you enough for letting these kids learn these values by practicing those!”
Another Woodsboro parent commented, “They also kept their school work at high standards and additionally every one of the students have other extracurricular activities they participate in such as sports, etc. This is a true example of dedication and commitment.”
The Woodsboro Bee-Botics included students Saanvi Amrutiya, Eason Huang, Naysa Malik, Avanish Nangare, Maya Pittman, Samihan Shaligram, and Allyson Tam and they were coached by Mrs. Madhura Shaligram and Mr. Ken Tam.
The Fairmont ProKids Robotics included students Tyler Pierson, Sophia Casillas, David Martinez, Nathan Keller (Travis), Johnson Li (Travis), Sophia Li (Travis) and Zane Ahn (Linda Vista). They were coached by Mrs. Mary Ahn and Mrs. Tina Thammasuckdi.
We would like to thank the volunteer Travis Ranch Coaches: Mrs. Heather Mulkey and Mr. David Huizar and the Reach High School Interns: Leo Chi, Megan Wang, Angelo Messina, Jolie Yang, Aashna Patel and the FLL parents for their support.
The REACH Foundation would like to acknowledge and thank Mr. Eddie Tabata, Assistant Principal at Travis Ranch, for his belief and advocacy for the FLL program. We would also like to thank Mrs. Anne San Roman, Principal at Fairmont, and Principal Melanie Carmona for their ongoing support. Their presence at the mock competition provided encouragement, invaluable feedback, and motivated the students!
Congratulations, PYLUSD teams!
Volunteer Today
We are always looking for passionate and dedicated volunteers to help us carry out our mission. Whether you have a few hours to spare or want to make a long-term commitment, there are many ways to get involved and make a difference. Contact us today to learn more about volunteering with REACH Foundation.
Qualifier Competition at UC Riverside on Nov. 11, 2023
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First Lego League Classes for grades 1-4 and 4-8
Explorer (Grades 2-4, Non-Competitive)
What It Offers:
- Build STEAM skills and develops habits of learning.
- Engagement of students in meaningful, hands-on experimentation.
- Development of presentation skills.
- Experience a positive culture of sharing, learning, and fun!
Challenge (Gr. 4-8 Competitive)
If you are a new student who is interested in participating in the 2025 Spring Showdown Season, click on the registration link below.
The REACH STEAM Club is supported by
