K-12, college students can participate in Chippewa River District Library LEGO contest

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It doesn’t take years of higher education to become an engineer — at least, not at the Chippewa River District Library for the next two months.

The library is holding its annual LEGO building contest for students in the Mount Pleasant area. Participants can build their own LEGO set and submit it to the library where it will be judged and winners announced Feb, 24.

Sue Ellen Deni-Owen, CRDL community relations specialist, came up with the idea.

“We stumbled upon other libraries downstate that were doing LEGO contests, so we thought that would be a cool thing to do,” Deni-Owen said.

Marketing and Programming Manager Rob Wang was immediately impressed with the turnout of the contest.

“We started a couple years ago, had fantastic response,” Wang said. “So we said, ‘Hey, this is working, so let’s do it again.’”

The LEGO building contest started Jan. 3 and participants can turn in their designs until Feb. 24 when judging commences.

LEGO sets must be the creator’s original work and cannot be made from provided directions. The LEGO sets must fit within a space of 24 inches by 24 inches and cannot exceed a height of four feet.

Each age category will have a first place winner followed by one runner-up and one honorable mention. Both will receive prizes or prize ribbons.

“What they’re looking for is creativity, originality, how difficult it was for the age group,” Wang said. “Obviously, they’re going to judge the teens a lot differently than the preschoolers.”

There is also a team category that will consist of multiple individuals, such as families or friends.

“It’s a great opportunity for families to sit down and do something together that’s fun, that uses imagination,” Wang said. “You can turn off the television for a while, put down the cell phone, shut off the computer and just spend some time together and have some fun.”

Prizes from past contests included small LEGO sets, gift cards and certificates that acknowledged and thanked students for their participation.

Judges, librarians and parents have been fascinated by some of the designs that were made in past contests, Wang said.

“In both years, it’s amazing what these kids can come up with and the creativity. Last year one of the most creative ones we had was a strand of DNA,” Wang said. “I also remember one year, one of the winners built the Empire State Building with King Kong on top and airplanes going around it.”

Deni-Owen said CMU students are invited to participate in addition to local residents.

“LEGOs are awesome,” said Flushing freshman Aaron Ogles. “There are a couple of people in my building who I know are into LEGOs and would definitely enter if we have the time.”