Seth Johnson
Teams from across the Alachua County Public School (ACPS) District and beyond competed in the annual VEX Robotics Competition at Lincoln Middle School on Thursday.
From Absolute Hacks to Blood Moon, Corona Crushers and FR E SH A VOCA DO, more than 150 students and 44 teams battled for the win and a chance to represent the district in the state competitions with a chance to advance to internationals.
Kelley Kostamo, ACPS supervisor of volunteers and partners, said students work on the project throughout the year, some through technology classes and others through clubs.
The point of the competition, she said, is to promote workplace skills. Hard skills, like building a remote control vehicle, are evident in the competition, but soft skills come into play as well.
In the team competition, groups from different schools partner to get a combined score. That means communicating with each other to find strengths and weaknesses. Teams must also pick a good time to switch drivers in the middle of the one minute rounds.
Teams had to navigate their vehicles through a number of tasks within competition arenas. Vehicles collected balls, corralled them into designated areas and even launched as many as possible into a box within a minute.
“It was awesome,” Kostamo said. “The kids had a great time. I think all the coaches were really proud of their kids and how well they did.”
At the start of the year, the district’s robotics program applied and received a $5,000 STEM grant from the Education Foundation of Alachua County. Kostamo said the grant allowed the program to meet the new competition standards with bigger fields of play.
The program also gets a boost from Gas South who has sponsored the competition for seven years.
Middle School Award Winners
Westwood Middle School swept the field for the following awards which advance to the region championships.
Excellence Award—FR E SH A VOCA DO from Westwood
Teamwork Champion Award—power rangers from Westwood
Teamwork Champion Award—on FIRE!! from Westwood
Design Award—Update your firmware from Westwood
The following teams won awards but do not advance to regionals:
Robot Skills Champion—FR E SH A VOCA DO
Think Award—Jacket Legs United from Bishop Middle School
Amaze Award—Kanapaha 3 from Kanapaha Middle School
Build Award—Delta Squad from Oak View Middle School
Energy Award—VEX Terriers from Lincoln Middle School
Elementary Schools
Advancing to regionals:
Excellence Award―Era from Wiles Elementary School
Teamwork Champion Award―Era from Wiles Elementary School
Teamwork Champion Award―The Champs from Foster Elementary School
Design Award―GALE from Wiles Elementary School
The following teams won awards but do not advance to regionals:
Robot Skills Champion―Era from Wiles Elementary School
Amaze Award―Chiles A from Chiles Elementary School
Build Award―Young Scientists from Glen Springs Elementary School
Energy Award―Corona Crushers from Chiles Elementary School
Create Award―25786A from Parker Elementary School
Inspire Award―Twister A from Terwilliger Elementary School
