SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- The school year has come to a close, but some students at Hale Kula Elementary School on Schofield Barracks have not only put away their books, pencils, and markers; they have inventoried their NXT Lego parts, deconstructed their PVC pipe maze, and stored their PC laptops for the summer.

Members of the Hale Kula robotics team, the Cyborg Eagles, ended their busy year by snacking on pizza and taking stock of Mindstorm Lego pieces recently.

Hale Kula was the only elementary school in the Leilehua Complex to become a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League team and qualify to enter the FLL competition in November.

Nathan Lawrence and Sorenna Jean, members of the Hale Kula Elementary School robotics team, set up their robot to flip ping-pong balls out of the arena.

The competition theme for the year was, "Food Factor." The Cyborg Eagles researched, created, and presented a device that would help farmers grow healthier produce by detecting fruit flies in the field and alerting them of their location.

Team members also built and programmed "Little Eagle," their autonomous NXT bot that competed in the Robot Games. They accomplished missions including "Pollution Reversal" where the bot knocked colored balls off a ring, and "Fishing" where the bot grabbed fish and transported them to base.

In January, new team members learned how to build and program NXT bots as part of Hale Kula's service learning project.

Members used experimentation, along with trial and error, isolating variables, and other science problem solving skills to successfully compete last month. "It was fun experimenting," said Meagan Hammond, team member.

The Cyborg Eagles were recently named competition champions of the elementary school competition held at Wahiawa Middle School. The team also won first place in the Maze challenge and tied for first and placed second in the Ping-Pong Challenge.

Competition Team members include: Tyler Blevens, Hank Botters, Riley Girouard, Sorenna Jean, Hammond, Nathan Lawrence, Cody Leuenberger, Aidan Manzo, Craig Michaud, and Macayla Pott.