BY WIL BYERS

Special to The Pilot

On Nov. 19, "Infection Correction," the CHES First Lego League (FLL) home-school team, competed in the North Carolina Region 5 Tournament in Raleigh.

The international theme was "Food Factor." Team members include Nathan Leusink, Andrew Lennon, Alex Lennon, Zach Padgett, Josh Padgett, John Paul D'Argenio, Patrick Byers and Wil Byers, with team leaders Ginny Lennon and Mary Lausink.

The team "Infection Correction" met weekly beginning in March.

"Infection Correction" visited numerous restaurants, including Olive Garden, Elliott's on Linden, Chick-fil-A, Red Door Cafe and Nature's Own.

"Infection Correction" also visited Key Meat Packing Company, Sandhills Farmers Market, and Maple View Farm.

The goal of the field trips was to examine where food contamination takes place. For programming, FLL used the NXT MindStorms robot and program. Members designed their own robot, and programmed it to do certain tasks as instructed by FLL.

"Infection Correction" won first place in research and the opportunity to compete at the state level on Jan. 21, in Greensboro.

Local sponsors include Dr. Michael Henry, Cooper's Pharmacy, Lowes of Southern Pines, Rowland and Yauger, attorneys at Law, Supercharged Science, and Pinehurst Foot Specialist, PA.

For more information about First Lego League, visit the website www.firstlegoleague.org.