Three Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) teams recently qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship slated for April 21-24 in St. Louis, Missouri.  

Two of the three teams that qualified for the world championship received top honors at the North Central Florida VEX Competition, which includes teams from nearly half of the school districts in the state. 

Eastside High School’s “Drumroll Please” team won the VEX V5 High School Tournament Champions Award at the competition. The team members included Aidan Badea-Bondoc, Michael Soukarov and Henry Kaufman, who are coached by math teacher Brittany Wishin. The team previously competed at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas. 

Westwood Middle School’s “No Limits” team took home the V5RC Middle School Tournament Champions Award, the Skills Award and the Excellence Award. According to the Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation, the Excellence Award is the “highest award in the VEX Robotics Competitions, given to a team that excels in everything (notebook, interview, qualification matches, skills matches and conduct).”  

The “No Limits” team, coached by robotics teacher David Sankey, includes team members Mateo Valverde, Sonty Valverde and Mason Waldrop. 

A second Westwood team, “THE GOATS”, also qualified for the world championship based on its individual skills score at the North Central Florida competition. Team members include Osama Ahmed, Ilias Ishmukhametov and Roy Richmond. 

The VEX Robotics World Championship brings together top robotics teams from around the globe and is recognized as the largest robotics competition in the world. Established in 2007, the event promotes students’ interest and skills in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).