Last December, Star Wars: Force for Change, FIRST, and the LEGO Group announced the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Contest in celebration of the release of the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special on Disney+. The official site announce the winner and runners up…
There were submissions from fans around the world and needless to say, they were impressive, most impressive. Winners were chosen by an all-star panel of judges including Star Wars actor Kelly Marie Tran, LEGO Star Wars design director Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, and FIRST LEGO League alumni Sanjay and Arvind Seshan; StarWars.com is honored to announce the winners, and to tell their stories. Ewok drum roll, please [see image above]…
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Steve Leuer
For engineering teacher Steve Leuer, working with his son Jack on this project was the most enjoyable part of the experience. The build itself took 20 hours, but over the course of two weeks, it was a constant collaboration between father and son. The two would brainstorm over breakfast, pitching ideas back and forth. Their initial plan was to create a scene with BB-8, Yoda, and a Christmas tree. “Once we had that done, our brains just started running wild with other ideas and pieces we could add,” Steve says. “Jack would spend any extra time between his distance learning classes to come up with ideas, find pieces, and work on parts of our scene.”
Soon, a fireplace was added, stockings were created, and a Resistance Bomber tensegrity table was built. “As we were building, we kept trying to come up with something that would really set our design apart and bring a little bit of a wow factor…partly because of the competition, but also because we were having so much fun seeing what we could create.” Not only is a floating table a unique visual effect, it also fit perfectly with their theme of Yoda Claus using the Force on Christmas Eve. After much trial and error (and a few moments where Steve wanted to scrap the idea), Jack kept at it and ultimately created the final design that worked for their scene. It all came down to the shape of the table, which was inspired by a movie night at home. Steve says that “we had just re-watched The Rise of Skywalker so the Rebel bomber was fresh in his mind. Lucky for us, because that was all the inspiration he needed.”
Some might say that Jack’s perseverance is the perfect example of Master Yoda’s lesson of, “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” It’s a philosophy that has resonated with so many fans, and for Steve, it’s one he has tried to instill in his engineering and STEM students. “In my mind, [Yoda’s] teaching is all about doing your best; giving your best effort, no matter what. Don’t take the easy way out, don’t get lazy and put in a lesser effort, don’t miss an opportunity to be successful. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. This is the mindset I want my students to have.”
Take the link below to see the runners up; congratulations to Steve and the runners up too!
