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In a thrilling showcase of innovation and teamwork, three LEGO robotics teams from Kraemer Middle School unearthed success at the Val Verde Unified School District Qualifier on November 1, securing spots at the upcoming Regional Championships.

Competing among 24 teams from across Southern California, the Control-Alt-Elite, The Green Eyeballs, and Iron Clad Pythons—two of which are rookie teams—rose to the top through ingenuity, perseverance, and technical mastery. The Control-Alt-Elite earned first place overall with a remarkable 415-point performance in the Robot Game.

Their victories are part of a growing movement fostered by the REACH Foundation, whose First Lego League (FLL) program aims to ignite curiosity and leadership in students through STEM-based problem solving. The teams are led by dedicated coaches Madhura Shaligram, Mary Ahn, Phil Duncan, Alfie Lin, and Gisele Nguyen, President of the REACH Foundation.

This year’s competition theme, “Unearthed,” encouraged students to explore archaeology through robotics and innovation projects. Each team tackled the challenge in distinctive ways:

• Control-Alt-Elite engineered a precision-driven robot and secured the Robot Performance Award for its reliable, high-scoring design.

• The Iron Clad Pythons, a rookie team, collaborated with archaeologists, a paleontologist, a historian, and an Egyptologist to develop solutions inspired by real-world science.
  
• The Green Eyeballs created “Race for Relics,” a board game that introduces young learners to the thrill of discovery in archaeology.
  

For these middle schoolers, the journey began in August and has been filled with late-night coding, countless prototype tests, and learning sessions with experts from UCI and local museums.

“We are thankful to our coaches, parents, district, and community partners for this transformative educational experience—teaching real-world skills to help students reach their highest potential,” said Gisele Nguyen, President of the REACH Foundation.

“Our team has learned that progress happens one thoughtful step at a time,” said Coach Phil Duncan of The Green Eyeballs. “Whether in archaeology or robotics, true innovation begins with curiosity.”

“From Pybricks programming to using GitHub, our students embraced new tools and teamwork,” added Coach Madhura Shaligram. “Their dedication helped us achieve an incredible milestone this season.”

Coach Mary Ahn reflected, “Beyond robotics, our students are learning to listen, value diverse ideas, and engage their community through teaching others. This growth will last far beyond competition day.”

The REACH Foundation’s program has rapidly grown into a model for hands-on STEM education in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. With guidance from mentors and high school REACH interns, students are developing not only robots but resilience, creativity, and confidence.

As they prepare for Regionals this December, the Kraemer Hub teams carry forward the same determination that unearthed their success—one LEGO brick at a time.

The REACH Foundation congratulates the students on their hard work and dedication and looks forward to cheering them on at the FLL Regionals.

Team Members:

• Control-Alt-Elite — Samihan Shaligram, Zane Ahn, Avaneesh Nagare, Derek Luu, Ian Yoon, Max Mills, Raaghav Deoghare, and Austin Luu
  
• Iron Clad Pythons — Claire Liu, Steven Yeh, Fan Weng, Khang Le, Lucas Kim, Yan Weng, and Kei Tsuchia
  
• The Green Eyeballs — Caleb Duncan, Sohan Shah, Jeremiah Kang, Ian Wilner, Balin Aguilar, and Aaron Kang
  
• REACH Interns — Shaurya Nagare, Aarav Patel, Megan Tran, and Ansch Khant
• Alumni - Leo Chi, Cal Poly Pomona Computer Science & Engineering Student
  
  

Our program currently serves dedicated students from eight (8) schools, creating a STEM-focused, diverse and collaborative learning environment that brings together students from across our district.

Certified Coaching Team: Our program is led by approximately 10 dedicated professional volunteer coaches who maintain the high standards of youth protection and program excellence:

• AB506 Compliant: All coaches meet California's youth protection requirements
• Background Verification: Including live scan fingerprinting and background checks
• Mandatory Reporting Training: Ensuring student safety and well-being
• FLL Certification: Some Coaches have been FLL Certified.

We are proud to have about 7 high school interns and alums from Valencia High School, Yorba Linda High School, Esperanza High School and Cal Poly Pomona who visit our hubs, providing peer mentorship and additional support to our students.

Our Vision: To cultivate a supportive and fun environment for our innovators, problem-solvers, and collaborative leaders through hands-on STEM learning.

Our Commitment: We maintain small group sizes to optimize learning experiences, ensuring personalized attention and maximum engagement for every student.

What students will learn:

- Apply teamwork, critical thinking, creativity, and discovery to explore the annual theme challenge in four elements: robot design, robot game, innovation project and core values.

- Innovate new ideas about your robot design, robot game, and research project.- Prepare and communicate an engaging presentation. 

- Learn how to collaborate, communicate, and persevere in the face of challenges. 

- Teams work together to design, build, and program robots, while also researching real-world problems, iterating with industry experts, and developing innovative solutions. 

- The program nurtures a growth mindset, agency, empowering students to see setbacks and struggles as opportunities.

Alumni of the program emerge with greater confidence, stronger STEM foundations, and an understanding for how they can shape their future. The REACH PYL FLL Robotics program continues to prove that when students are given the tools to innovate, they don’t just build robots—they build resilience, community, creativity, and hope for tomorrow.