Contact:
Krysta West
Communications Director
Senate Republican Office
(207) 287-1505
krysta.west@legislature.maine.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sen. Rod Whittemore, Jeremy Caruso (grade 7), Ashton Umbrianna (grade 7), Tregg Umbrianna (grade 10), Isaiah Simoneau (grade 7), Caleb Haynes (grade 7), Christopher Caruso (grade 6)
Not pictured: Carter Houle (grade 7) and Sawyer Merrill (grade 4)

AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, February 28, members of the Somerset Homeschool Co-op Robotics Team, joined Senator Rodney Whittemore (R-Somerset) as special guests at the State House to discuss legislation the team prepared as part of the Animal Allies challenge at the 2016 FIRST Lego League State Championship.

After competing against 60 teams, they took home first place in the category of Innovative Solution. Challenged with finding an animal that needs help in their interaction with humans, they chose the honey bee, which is responsible for pollinating 2/3 of the world’s food and is in a global crisis as it is dying in massive scales. After extensive research and fact-finding with experts in the industry, the team presented a bill, Bee Safe, to Senator Whittemore. Their Bee Safe legislation seeks to protect the honey bee and other pollinators in Maine.

In addition to winning the Maine State Championship, they have also been nominated to represent Maine in a national competition for First Lego League’s Global Innovation Award. Next month, the team will find out if it will advance as one of the 20 semi-finalists in the US.

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