Girl Scouts of Gateway Council (GSGC) proudly announces a seven-member robotics team, comprised of Girl Scout members from Clay, Flagler and St. Johns counties, recently received “The Rising Star” award and a bid to advance to the state competition at the Northeast Florida Regional Robotics Championship.

The Aquabots, inspired by the First Lego Robotics League, are one of only nine teams to advance to the state championship in April. The team competed against 48 regional finalist teams at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville.

 “Congratulations to this team of go-getters, innovators, risk-takers and leaders,” said Girl Scouts of Gateway Council CEO Mary Anne Jacobs. “Our girls continue to highlight the STEM experiences offered to girls through Girl Scouts. We look forward to seeing what they will do next.”

The Aquabots are coached by Kelly Anderson and mentored by Kelly Higgins Ludlam and Kaitlyn Ludlam. Since the robotics challenge was announced last August, countless hours of travel and practice have gone into designing, building and programming a robot that completes “missions,” and developing an innovative solution to a water-related problem.

The First Lego League State Invitational is April 8 at World Golf Village.

For more information about Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, visit www.girlscouts-gateway.org.