Elementary and middle school students across the county went head-to-head Thursday in Alachua County Public Schools’ (ACPS) 10^th annual robotics competition. 

Around 200 students from 18 elementary and middle schools took part in the VEX IQ robotics challenge, which took place inside the Lincoln Middle School gymnasium in Gainesville. 

All teams were vying to earn a spot in the Central/North Florida State VEX competitions slated in early March, with the possibility of competing in the VEX World Championship in late May in St. Louis, Missouri.  

When all was said and done, Glen Springs Elementary School, Westwood Middle School and Fort Clarke Middle School qualified for the state competition. 

During the district competition, about 50 teams displayed their ability to develop and operate robots to perform specific tasks in front of judges. Participating students also took part in team skill contests and a teamwork challenge that required teams from different schools to work together to earn points. 

Chris Dodyk, an instructional technology coach at ACPS, touched on the team aspect of the competition. 

“It’s really incredible to see these kids, especially in a competition, when they score a high score…because it might be like the first victory that they’ve achieved in a long time or ever,” he said in an interview with Mainstreet.  

The district competition, which was sponsored by Gas South and other community partners, like the Education Foundation of Alachua County (EFAC), kicked off with qualification team challenge matches at 11:30 a.m. and concluded a little after 4 p.m. with the awards ceremony. 

A full list of winners from the district competition is seen below.  

Elementary Sportsmanship Award 

• Littlewood Elementary School – Funky Monkey  

Middle Sportsmanship Award  

• Westwood Middle School – THE GOATS  

Elementary Judge’s Award  

• Lawton Chiles Elementary School – Blazing Builders  

Middle Judge’s Award  

• Oakview Middle School – Jake  

Elementary Design Award  

• Idylwild Elementary School – Blue Hawks  

Middle Design Award  

• Oak View Middle School – The Krusty Krabs  

Elementary Robot Skills Champion Award 

• Glen Springs Elementary School – Robo Tigers  

Middle Robot Skills Champion Award 

• Howard Bishop Middle School – Insert Name Here  

Elementary Teamwork Champions Award (advances to state tournament)  

• Glen Springs Elementary School – Tech Tigers, Robo Tigers  

Middle Teamwork Champions Award (advances to state tournament)  

• Fort Clark Middle School – The Death Brigade  

• Westwood Middle School – THE Goats  

Elementary Excellence Award   

• Glen Springs Elementary School – Robo Tigers  

Middle Excellence Award 

• Westwood Middle School – Tyrannosaurs VEX  

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.