By JASON POLIAK

My friends and I are elementary school students, and we are the FIRST LEGO League #50899 Mechanical Meatloaf (with a slice of pickles) robotics team.

I live in Alvarado Estates and many of you have seen a few of my friends and I in the garage working when you pass by our house. We are working on a robotics competition. As part of this competition, we needed to come up with an innovation idea on how to help senior people come outdoors more often. We surveyed the people of the neighborhood with five questions: How often do you walk? What would you like to see more of? Do you enjoy walking? Is there anything that concerns you about walking on the street? What are some of the reasons that you come out to walk?

Most senior people come out mostly for fresh air and exercise. Some people also said they would like to see more sidewalks. People said they also would like to see more animals. Some people in the neighborhood said that they would like the cars to be slower and roads to be safer. Some of the more active seniors said that they are not personally afraid of uneven sidewalks, but other people might have a harder time and trip. They would also like to see more nature and animals with more exercise stations for seniors.

Our idea started out as “smooth senior sidewalks” but as time passed, we decided to create an innovation idea to make exciting outdoor spaces for seniors. We just had our qualifying robotics tournament on March 6 and that idea won the innovation project award. We are advancing to the southern California championship on April 10. Wish us luck!

— Jason Poliak is a resident of Alvarado Estates.