As part of our mission to provide educational opportunities and support to the community, Chillicothe Circle of Service has donated $800 to the Chillicothe Public Library District to support both the Lego Club and the First Lego League (FLL) Challenge Team. The Lego Club is a weekly program for families (primary audience ages 4 – 12) promoting youth literacy through the development of narrative skills using play-based learning. Money allocated to this program ($400) will be used to purchase pieces to fill the gaps in the existing Lego collection, with basic color bricks, base plates, Lego Minecraft pieces, minifigures and accessories, plant pieces, and animals.

The remaining $400 will be spent on First Lego League (FLL) global STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) competition expenses for students in grades 4 – 8. FLL introduces middle school students to important STEAM concepts while learning to design, build, and code a Lego SPIKE Prime robot to compete in a game challenge. Expenses expected to be covered by this donation include materials to organize the existing Lego Technic collection used by middle school students and Lego Technic pieces to support the building needs of the Lego SPIKE Prime robot design. 

According to Youth Librarian Brea Fearon, the Lego Club was started ten or more years ago, and there are 137 schoolchildren in the program (average participation of 28 students at each Thursday afternoon session). The First Lego League is in its second year, with nine students on the team. Practice tournaments started in November and could run through February or later, depending on how the team progresses in the global competition.

Lego Club creations are called builds and are displayed in the Library lobby. The participant must fill out a display card and provide information about the build, at times using help from a staff member to correctly explain their project. FLL teams are introduced to the basics of coding language, serving as the building block for developing coding language skills in the future.

If you have Legos that are no longer being used, consider donating them to the Chillicothe Library. If you need more information on either of the programs outlined above, contact Brea Fearon at 309-274-2719 or e-mail her at [email protected].

For more information on Chillicothe Circle of Service, contact President Carol Solis, [email protected].