Update: Congratulations to Jamison Cordes, Cal Myers, Kai Johnston, and Lainey Daniels. They competed at the Vex World Championships in Dallas, Texas, with over 760 other teams from 40 countries. They represented Little Turtle Elementary School, Whitley County Consolidated Schools and Columbia City, Indiana. They finished 36th in the engineering division and 259th out of over 760 teams in skills! This team also received their division's Energy Award (Team Spirit). Congratulations on a fantastic robotics season! We are proud of the Little Turtle Tech-Know Turtles!
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The Little Turtle Elementary School (LTES) staff had the chance to observe the robotics team and drive the student-built robots during the Robotics Team Show Case and End of the Year Party on April 20.
The Little Turtle Elementary team has 16 students chosen through an application process and tryouts. Only 32 students are invited to the tryouts to make the team.
Throughout the year, students will compete at local competitions, and this year, the Tech-Know Turtles advanced to state and earned a spot at the World Competition.
During the showcase, the students explained how the competition worked.
"Each year is a different challenge. Everyone has the same challenge, but how the robots work is up to us," said Jamison Cordes, LTES student.
Three kinds of dispensers are on a field, set up universally for every competition throughout the year. The objective is to build a robot that can complete the challenge with the most efficiency and skill in the 60-second limit.
"This year's challenge was called 'Slap Shot.' The students had to build a robot that could solve a challenge to dispense orange discs onto the field for various points," said Katie Myers, LTES teacher.
The students begin their year in September and begin designing, building and testing the robots. Parent and volunteer Ben Cooper, an electrical engineer at Ultra, coaches the team.
Teams work together to score points in Teamwork Matches and get to show off their skills individually in driver-controlled and programming Robot Skills Challenges.
During the Teamwork Match, a pair of LTES students are matched with another team from another school and must effectively communicate to solve the challenge.
"There are ways to disqualify too, and we have to know our math," Kai Johnston, LTES student, explained.
The robots are created using VEX IQ snap-together parts and are engineered by the teams. The VEX robots start as parts. Students look at the course requirements and design, build and test their robots. It's the whole engineering process.
"I see this as a great opportunity for the students. When I was a kid, I had LEGOs and things. I'm technically minded; having something like this would have been a dream. I can give to the students and enjoy watching them learn and grow. It's rewarding and I can use my talents to help them. I'm proud of what they accomplish," said Ben Cooper, LTES Robotics Coach and Volunteer.
At the showcase, teachers were allowed to drive the student-created robots! Some found the process more challenging than anticipated, and the robotics team enjoyed sharing their experience with the staff.
LTES Robotics Team is led by teachers Katie Myers and Beth Hart, coached by Ben Cooper, and sponsored by Ultra.
LTES wishes to thank its sponsors for the World Competition. The "Tech-Know Turtles" team of Callaghan Myers, Jamison Cordes, Lainey Daniels and Kai Johnston are headed to the World Competition to compete in Dallas, Texas, May 2-4. If you would like to support the robotics team, please get in touch with Katie Myers.
Whitley County Consolidated Schools also has a robotics team at Coesse Elementary.