The robotics team from the Mr. and Mrs. Lester Sutker AMIT Modi’in School for Boys in Modi’in, Israel, came in second place in the First Lego League (FLL) regional contest and has advanced to the national finals for the fifth year in a row.

Kipa Bots, the team comprising junior high school students, competed against 50 other teams from the region. They came in second place overall in this qualifying round, and also took second place in the robot design and function category.

The Modi’in team joins students from AMIT Yud Ashdod Junior and Senior High School in advancing to the national competition. Students from AMIT Hammer Junior and Senior High School for Boys and AMIT Hallel Junior and Senior High School for Girls also won regional contests.

The Kipa Bots will be competing against 104 teams from across Israel in the finals, which will be held in Tel Aviv in early March. The top 10 teams to emerge in the finals will represent Israel at international competitions in Europe and the United States.

The theme for this year’s competition is “Hydro Dynamics,” in which students learn all about water—how to find, transport, use or dispose of it. Each team chooses and solves a real-world problem with their project, in which they will also build, test and program an autonomous robot. The AMIT Modi’in students developed an innovative water-conservation device that uses excess water in air conditioning units to fill toilet tanks.

The AMIT Boys impressed the judges with their teamwork, collaboration and unique research, which earned them a trophy and a ticket to the national competition.

“The competition is a watershed moment after months in which the team worked on their collaboration as a team, technical construction and programming,” said Tzachi Green, principal of the junior high school and coordinator of the robotics track. “The students benefit from a wide range of social and educational aspects of the program, and we are proud of them and wish them great success.”

AMIT was named the leading educational network in Israel by the Ministry of Education.