A robotics team of six students, featuring four from the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District, achieved a prestigious award at the LEGO state championship competition.
The club team, known as M&M Legends, received the Engineering Excellence award at the FIRST LEGO League New Jersey State Championship match, which was held on December 13 and 14 at Mount Olive Township High School.
According to Ratul Ahuja who is the co-coach of M&M Legends with Rashi Gupta, this season 342 teams participated in the New Jersey qualifiers, with only 80 advancing to the state championship.
At the qualifier level, M&M Legends also received the Core Values Award, earning its place among the top 80 teams in the state.
The team's surge to the state championship was guided by the only high school member, Leah Heisler, who is a sophomore at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
The other members of the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District are all students at the Middle School—8th Graders Salvi Ahuja and Justin Heisler, and 7th Grader Akshar Sojitra.
Mr. Ahuja spoke about how valuable Leah was in the competition, and leading up to the event as well.
“Last season, Leah was a team member who gained firsthand experience in collaboration, problem-solving, and FIRST Core Values,” Mr. Ahuja explained. “This year, she stepped into the role of Youth Mentor, using that experience to guide students, encourage critical thinking, and support learning through iteration rather than providing direct answers.”
He continued.
“Leah played a key role in the team’s outreach and fundraising efforts—including a lemonade stand, bake sale, and firewood sale station—which helped build community connections, raise awareness about FLL, and strengthen teamwork and communication beyond competitions. She also demonstrated strong leadership by organizing roles and assisting with financial tracking. Through these efforts, Leah exemplified FIRST Core Values and Gracious Professionalism while helping the team build confidence.”
The co-coach of M&M Legends shared the event’s competition.
For the Robot Game, the team designed, built, and coded an autonomous robot to complete predefined missions on the competition field.
For their Innovation Project, the team developed a concept for a collaborative website that connects citizen archaeologists with local experts and resources to help catalog and preserve artifacts—encouraging community participation in uncovering and protecting historical discoveries.
At the state championship, Mr. Ahuja revealed the judges’ remarks:
“The Engineering Excellence Award celebrates a team with an efficiently designed robot, an innovative project solution that effectively addresses the season challenge, and strong Core Values evident in everything they do. This team is no candy, but they are really sweet. Their stories from the past will continue into the future. Team 65647 M&M Legends.”
Team Members and Schools:
Leah Heisler – Youth Mentor, Grade 10, Bridgewater-Raritan High School
Saivi Ahuja – Team Member, Grade 8, Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School
Justin Heisler – Team Member, Grade 8, Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School
Arjun Sojitra – Team Member, Grade 7, Hillsborough Middle School
Akshar Sojitra – Team Member, Grade 7, Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School
Pahul Sawhney – Team Member, Grade 7, Timberlane Middle School in Pennington