← Back to Home
Our Past Programs
From a single after-school team at a Nashua school to a program that is accessible statewide across New Hampshire - here's our journey so far...
From a single after-school team at a Nashua school to a program that is accessible statewide across New Hampshire - here's our journey so far...
Year at a Glance · 2024
The Local Beacon launched its inaugural STEM after-school program at St. Christopher's Academy in Nashua. Using FIRST Lego League curriculum, a team of students — Team Marine Mechanics — built, coded, and competed, earning the 2nd highest score at the regional tournament.
The Local Beacon launched its very first STEM after-school program at St. Christopher's Academy in Nashua, NH. Leveraging the FIRST Lego League curriculum, a team of 10 students met twice per week for three months — building LEGO stations, constructing and programming a robot, and learning to apply the Engineering Design Process and Scientific Method to real-world challenges.
Students were placed in positions to collaborate, fail forward, and present their design process to judges. Core principles like "Fail to Learn" and "Silent Observation" shaped every session, building not just technical skills but confidence, resilience, and teamwork.
Recorded the 2nd highest score at the FIRST Robotics regional competition — November 2024
Year at a Glance · 2025
A transformative year for The Local Beacon — expanding to two curriculum paths (Basic and Advanced), then moving programming to CodeWiz Nashua to serve students statewide. Team Gyro Cranes finished 4th at regionals and qualified for the NH State Tournament.
Building on the success of the inaugural season, The Local Beacon extended its program at St. Christopher's Academy to serve more students with two distinct curriculum paths:
Basic Path — Designed for elementary-age students, focused on foundational building, creativity, and introductory engineering concepts using LEGO bricks and guided problem-solving.
Advanced Path — Designed for middle school students, with deeper focus on robot programming, engineering design, and competition-level challenges.
To broaden access and reach students across all of New Hampshire, The Local Beacon moved its STEM programming to CodeWiz in Nashua. As a dedicated STEM learning center, CodeWiz offered the infrastructure, resources, and visibility to welcome students from well beyond the Nashua area — making the program truly statewide.
The Gyro Cranes brought together students from communities across New Hampshire — including one student traveling all the way from the Dartmouth region — reflecting the statewide reach the CodeWiz partnership made possible.
The team competed in the FIRST Lego League regional tournament, demonstrating their robot's capabilities and presenting their engineering design process to a panel of judges. Their performance earned them a spot at the New Hampshire State Tournament.
Finished 4th at the FIRST Lego League Regional Tournament — qualified for the NH State Tournament
Year at a Glance · 2026
Brian Melanson joins the FIRST New Hampshire Competition Committee, bringing The Local Beacon's voice into statewide STEM event planning. The year also launches the Nashua Minecraft League — a new summer program introducing software design through gaming — alongside a returning FIRST Lego League fall season.
Executive Director Brian Melanson was invited to join the FIRST New Hampshire Competition Committee — helping plan and organize STEM competitions and events across the state. This role deepens The Local Beacon's involvement in the broader NH STEM community and ensures our voice is part of shaping future opportunities for students statewide.
The Nashua Minecraft League is a first-of-its-kind summer STEM program that uses the world's most popular game as a gateway into real software design. Students harness a platform they already love to learn the fundamentals of design thinking, problem solving, and Python programming — building skills that translate directly into engineering and technology careers.
The league combines virtual coaching sessions throughout the summer with hands-on, in-person training at CodeWiz Nashua — giving students both the flexibility of online learning and the collaboration of in-person instruction. Students work in teams, design and build Minecraft challenges, and apply Python coding to bring their creations to life.
In partnership with CodeWiz Nashua
Building on the success of Team Gyro Cranes, The Local Beacon aims to scale up for Fall 2026 — fielding 3 to 4 FIRST Lego League teams in partnership with CodeWiz Nashua. Each team will work through the Engineering Design Process, build and code their robots, and develop a solution model to present to judges.
A new addition this season: The Local Beacon will host its own invitational Scrimmage Tournament in October — bringing together 4 to 8 teams for a practice competition before the official qualifying rounds in November. This gives students valuable experience in a supportive, low-pressure environment ahead of the high-stakes regional qualifier.
Planned: Local Beacon Invitational Scrimmage — October 2026 · 4–8 Teams
STEAM isn't just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math — the A stands for Art, and the STEAM Costume Contest puts that front and center. This initiative is designed to engage the creative side of every student, celebrating artistic expression as a genuine STEAM discipline.
Students will custom design and build their own costumes from scratch — combining creativity, craftsmanship, and engineering thinking. Coaches and judges will evaluate entries on originality, design quality, and construction, with awards for the best costume designs.