- Around 200 students from 18 Alachua County schools competed in the 10th annual ACPS VEX IQ robotics challenge on a Thursday in Gainesville.
- Glen Springs Elementary, Westwood Middle, and Fort Clarke Middle schools qualified for the Central/North Florida State VEX competitions.
- Teams competed in robot performance, team skill contests, and a teamwork challenge requiring collaboration between different schools.
Elementary and middle school students across the county went head-to-head Thursday in Alachua County Public Schools’ (ACPS) 10th 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.
