Out of 108 teams from around the world heading to the First Lego League World Championships in April, two of them are from Sharon.

This year the Tiger Techs are making a difference in their community along the way.

"When most people think of a robotics team, they think of the robot side only. They spend a lot of time on the robotics side, but they also spend a lot of time on the project side and working in the community," said Sharon robotics coach Dave Tomko.

This year's task was to solve a problem in a city.

The Black team kept their focus right at home.

"We wanted to do something that helped the place that we live in," said 5th grader Katelyn Powell. "We decided that vacant lots were such a big issue in our community, that that would be a good problem to try to tackle."

It's a problem the city itself has been focusing on, so the Tiger Techs developed a web app to keep track of properties that need to be cleaned up a little.

"It's kind of a visual diagram to show you what yards are doing good on the upkeep. If somebody from the city would like to volunteer their time to cut the parcel, they would know which lawns need the most attention to go to," said 9th grader Ben Pollock.

"What is really cool about this app is its perfect timing," said Melissa Phillips, Sharon's community and economic development director. "The city is working in partnership with Community Action Partnership, and we recently received $100,000 to implement a Lots to Love program. So when a project coordinator comes in place, they'll be able to use this app to collect the data as we go through a target neighborhood and be able to know when the grass needs cut."

These students are working with actual lawmakers and officials on these projects like the "Handi Parker," being developed by the Orange team, to try and prevent handicap parking abuse.

"Mark Longietti had said multiple times that people came into his office and he has talked about people stealing it, so they had to give them a new one," said 7th grader John Stanek.

"We had to think of something that could only be used by the handicapped person, so it couldn't be passed off," said 9th grader Abbey Baron. "The handicapped person would put their finger on the fingerprint scanner, and a light would turn on, showing they were parked there legally."

Maybe the most important lesson they can learn from all of these projects is finding out that students, regardless of age, can make a genuine difference right here in their community.

"Our kids are able to see the difference they can truly make," said Phillips. "Of course they can do that anywhere, I mean I wouldn't discourage them from seeing the world. But what they can do in their own hometown, I think gives us so much hope for the next 10, 20, 30 years."

Building robots, yes, but clearly, the Sharon robotics program is also building so much more.

The Tiger Techs will compete at World's in Detroit this April, and this is the first time that the team representing West Hill Elementary in the district is moving on as well.

As for the app, right now, it is strictly for viewing information as a web app, but the team has plans to turn it into an app that anyone can download to their phone in the near future. 

The team members physically went out into the community to look at each property on the map to make a list, which will be used by the city of Sharon in the near future.