RAPID CITY, SD – Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC), the statewide Program Delivery Organization for FIRST® LEGO® League, in partnership with the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSMT) will host the 2025 FIRST LEGO League West River Qualifier from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, at South Dakota Mines in the Classroom Building. The event is free and open to the public.
The West River Qualifier brings together youth ages 9–14 from across the region for a high-energy day of robotics challenges, teamwork, and creative problem-solving.
BHSSC Learning Specialist, Billie Jo Bakeberg, said, “The community of people who mentor these youth and provide them with the skills, confidence, and resilience to build a better world is heartwarming. They have proven to me that it takes a village, and great things can happen.”
This year, eight teams and more than 40 youth participants will showcase their work. The teams have been learning how to design, build, and program autonomous LEGO robots capable of completing mission-based tasks in timed rounds since August. Volunteers from the SDSMT Robotics Club and the Rocker Robotics Team will support the event, offering mentorship and modeling professionalism.
The 2025 challenge theme, UNEARTHED, invites students to explore archaeology as a lens for understanding the past and designing the future. In addition to the robot game, teams will present original research projects, demonstrate core values, and be evaluated on robot design.
BHSSC also recognizes Grossenburg Implement of Belle Fourche as a generous financial sponsor of the West River Qualifier. Their support helps ensure more young people across western South Dakota can access meaningful STEM learning opportunities.
FIRST LEGO League is a global STEM education program designed to spark students’ interest in engineering, teamwork, and real-world problem solving through hands-on, project-based learning.
About Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC)
Since 1980, BHSSC has been dedicated to addressing the unmet needs of individuals, schools, and communities. As an educational agency governed by a board of elected school board members from twelve public school districts in western South Dakota, our mission is to build stronger communities by helping individuals and organizations reach their full potential. For more information, visit www.bhssc.org.
