Four robotics teams qualify for world championships

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The VEX robotics program at Estes Park School District is fairly new. The district first introduced robotics programming at the elementary school during the 2016-2017 school year. Deb Holmes and Lisa Wahler held the first club for fifth-grade students. In 2017-18, elementary students competed in their first competition. In 2018-19, we expanded to middle school. The district only hosted one robotics competition before the shutdown of schools in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the last two years, robotics competitions were put on hold because they rely heavily on in-person competitions. During this time, the district maintained a robotics curriculum within the
elementary and middle schools, although there were no competitions taking place.

Estes Park School District has been intentional about including robotics in the school curriculum through electives so all students have access to it because the program does a great job of teaching the application of global outcomes.

The VEXmen include Carter Gooch, Jed Kim, and Bryson Dewey. (RUBY BODE/COURTESY PHOTO)

Robotics has a strong focus on critical thinking, creativity, perseverance, communication, and collaboration.

Those students wanting to compete in competitions can participate in the club after school. The cornerstone of robotics is communicating and collaborating together with multiple other teams on the competition field in order to score as many points as possible.

The VEX Destroyers include Corban Jorgensen and Grant Maxwell. (RUBY BODY/COURTESY PHOTO)

The competition field challenge changes each year, so students must build and program a new robot every year equipped to master the new competition field. We are very proud of the students who have represented our school district well at competitions.

Robotics tournaments are unique in that students are also judged on their character at competitions. There are special awards for teams that respond well to adversity in competition, demonstrate good sportsmanship, and show kindness and compassion toward other teams.

Our teams have received recognition for their great character and teamwork at these competitions throughout the season, and we are proud of them. This year, EPSD students returned to competition again and had a strong comeback. Last weekend, teams competed in the state championships.

Four out of 10 Estes Park teams qualified for the The VEX Robotics World Championships in
Dallas, Texas, on April 25 through May 4, 2023. Polly Greenblatt, Shawna Carosello, and Nick
Gooch are the coaches for the teams.

The Cheeseburgers include Eli Reese, Thomas Cousineau, and Gus Berg. (RUBY BODY/COURTESY PHOTO)

One of the fun things about robotics competitions is that the students get to choose their own name for their team. The Hotdog Chickens, Cheeseburgers, VEX Destroyers and VEXmen are the teams that qualified for the World Championships and will be competing with students from countries around the world.

Ruby Bode is the superintendent of Estes Park Schools.

 

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