SENECA, Mo. — “OK,” said Eli Lawson, stepping away from the table. A hush fell around the room. “Now watch.”

On the table below, a Lego Mindstorm robot stood at attention for a second or two before the motor revved. Rolling on wheels, it scooted across the surface rapidly. Carrying a container made of Lego pieces, the robot nudged a lever that spilled yellow Lego bits into the container. After another short pause, the robot smoothly retreated back to its starting point.

All in a matter of seconds.

Mission accomplished.

The Seneca Brick Indians, consisting of 10 Seneca students, two coaches and one very hardworking robot, are the first -- and so far only -- Lego League team currently in operation in Southwest Missouri.

The program, launched by famed American inventor Dean Kamen, helps girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 15 (grades 4 to 8) develop a love for robotics. Students also learn how to use robotics to find solutions to real-world problems.

This year’s theme, for example, was called “food factor.” Aside from piecing together a robot and an assortment of robotic arms made of Lego parts, the program teaches more than engineering.

“The larger picture about this program is that the kids are learning the science of food safety,” said team coach Loreen Huffman Novalany. “The missions go along with the theme.”

The team, said Novalany, programs its robot -- Robbie -- to complete as many food safety-related tasks atop the game table as possible within a 2 1/2-minute time frame.

One mission that Robbie has to undertake is either pushing or pulling three “adult” Lego fish from the “ocean” and back to their base. After that, the robot has to then push the fourth fish, a baby fish, back to its spot in the makeshift ocean. It’s a lesson on catch and release so waters won’t be depleted of their food source.

That’s just one of a score of missions, which include:

~ Using the robot to hit a lever to dump four “bacterial dispensers” scattered throughout the game board.

~ Collecting 10 grocery units from the base and using the robot to dump them atop a kitchen table.

~ Team members use the robot to motor over to a Lego-built kitchen timer to “cook food” by pushing a lever into a “red zone.” Nearby is a storage thermometer -- the robot is expected to change the mercury from “hot” to “cold” so the food stays safe.

~ One of the most difficult missions is dumping “bacteria” bits into a Lego kitchen sink.

But the kids don’t use robotic controllers, Novalany said. So how do they do it?

Down the hallway from the library inside the Seneca Intermediate School sits a computer lab, where team members spend a good majority of their time.

There, the kids attempt to program a perfect run for their robot. They will plot out how far their robot needs to go and what turns it needs to make to accomplish a given mission. They will download the program directly into the robot, and then carry the machine back to the game board in the library for a test run.

Maybe the robot doesn’t go far enough, or maybe it makes one too many turns. No problem. The kids jot down the problem on a notepad, go back to the computer lab and make the appropriate changes. Another test run follows. So on and so forth until they’ve gotten it down pat.

“Yeah, we do that a lot,” said Matthew Novalany, running between the game board and the computers. “We do our best with every run.”

And when things don’t exactly work like they’re supposed to?

“We jump up and down a lot,” he said.

There was a lot of jumping up and down, but in a good way, last November in Tulsa, Okla. There, the Seneca Brick Team competed against 29 other teams.

The Brick Indians earned two awards -- a first-place trophy in robot performance, and a second-place award in computer programming. This qualified them for a regional championship in Oklahoma City in December. The team received the seventh-highest score out of 60 teams.

The team also conducted research on food safety, looking at the problem of blue-green algae in area lakes. They even spoke to two Missouri Southern State University professors -- Michael Fletcher and Robert Heth -- about treating blue-green algae blooms.

Team members include Jordan McCready, Ian Lawson, William Novalany, Dallas Williams, Matthew Novalany, Layne Henning and Logan Williams. Julie Repplinger is the other team coach.

“It’s a wonderful program and the kids have a lot of fun,” Loreen Huffman Novalany said. “I just wish there could be more schools participating. Hopefully it will grow in popularity. It’s been fun to see just how much the kids have grown.”