Ashdod, Israel—The AMIT Yud Ashdod robotics team won the national innovation award at the FLL robotics competition for youth held last week at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. The “Roboteens” team, consisting of students from the eighth grade and led by their teacher Alejandra Pielnik, competed against 12 teams from across the country in the national finals, and was chosen to represent Israel at the first international robotics competition in which 80 teams will compete from all over the world

The theme this year was animal assistance. Each team had to demonstrate the ability to program a robot to perform certain tasks, and to write a research paper on the subject. The AMIT Yud Ashdod students chose to explore the preservation of sea turtles, and created an innovative sensor to be installed on the backs of turtles in order to prevent them from entering into fishing nets.

Aryeh Mimon, representative of the Ashdod municipality department of education, stated: “I congratulate AMIT Yud and its robotics team on a great achievement. Ambition and investment in excellence is an important element in advancing the school. We are proud of the wonderful school staff and its principal and thank them for all of their exceptional work.”

Ido Aharonowitz, principal of AMIT Yud Ashdod, congratulated team members on their impressive achievement: “The achievement of our robotics team is much more than a score or ranking. Rather, it is an achievement of cooperation, persistence and great teamwork. I am sure that with these values, the team will continue to succeed at the international competition.”

Founded in 1925, AMIT is the premier education network in Israel, serving 34,000 students each year in its 110 schools in 29 cities throughout Israel. AMIT enables students to realize their fullest potential and strengthens Israeli society by educating and nurturing children from diverse backgrounds within a framework of academic excellence, religious values and Zionist ideals. For more information, please visit www.amitchildren.org.