Heights Middle School Robotics Team Earns Spot at National Invitational

Jurassic Spark, the FIRST LEGO League robotics team from Heights Middle School in Farmington, earned an invitation to the American Robotics Invitational in New Jersey after finishing third overall at the New Mexico state championship with 255 points and claiming the Robot Performance Award for the highest Robot Game score in the state.

The team competed Feb. 14 at Menaul School in Albuquerque, where FIRST LEGO League's format splits competitors across two tracks: a timed robot-run obstacle course called the Robot Game and a separate Innovation Project requiring students to design a practical solution to a real-world problem. Jurassic Spark's 255-point total placed them third overall, but their Robot Game performance stood alone, earning the Robot Performance Award and securing the national invitation.

STEM elective teacher Grace McFarland said the sixth through eighth graders assumed leadership roles and organized themselves in ways that drove the result. That structure showed up in the roles students had defined for the team. Sixth grader Kyson Velarde took on the "Core Values" position, which he described as a key tool for managing stress across the group during competition. Seventh grader Ila Foster said she learned to step back and let teammates contribute rather than directing every part of the project, a shift that coaches in competitive robotics programs often identify as among the most significant growth a student can make.

The American Robotics Invitational draws top regional teams from across the country, offering higher-level competition alongside access to sponsors and peer networks. For a program within Farmington Municipal Schools, the trip to New Jersey also brings scholarship visibility and a clearer path into high school and college STEM programs.

Jurassic Spark's national qualification reflects the growing reach of FIRST LEGO League programming in the district and could pull community sponsorships and accelerate enrollment in STEM electives at Heights Middle School.