Lower School Robotics Team Gears Up for the State Tournament

We have a Lower School Robotics Team advancing to the State Tournament for the second time since the program began! Team 2/B members will head to Hendersonville, TN on February 28 for the state tournament where they will compete in eight qualification matches on their way to the finals.

Excitement began building this past Saturday, February 7, as SAA-SDS hosted the 5^th annual VEX IQ Robotics Battle at the Academy. This year’s competition consisted of 36 teams-the most ever-with 28 teams waitlisted to join.  “The participating teams represented both private and public schools,” said David Tran, Robotics co-sponsor. “There was increased demand for spots this year not only from local teams, but also from schools across Middle Tennessee and Mississippi.”

Mr. Tran and co-sponsor Christina Bolden, along with Sarah Joyner, Volunteer Coordinator, organized this day-long event which included a Teamwork Challenge and a Robot Skills Challenge.

St. Agnes-St. Dominic had three teams comprised of 4^th-8^th grade students participating in the Battle at the Academy:

Team 1/A

Mattie Berger

Isobelle Eisenman

Sofia Orellana

Annie Zeanah

Team 2/B

Luke Lamey

A.J. Ongsingco

Ben Ongsingco

Mark Rowland

Team 3/C

Arianna Bailey

Margaret Grace Ellis

George Lazzo

Olivia Matthies

Norah Smith

It was a great day for our Stars and Suns, with Team 2/B placing 2nd in the tournament finals, and Team 3/C placing 9th overall.

Teams 2/B and 3/C followed up their strong performance by participating in a second VEX IQ tournament on Tuesday, February 10, at Margolin Hebrew Academy. Team 2/B won that tournament, qualifying them for the State Tournament. They are currently ranked 19th out of 178 teams in the skills ranking in Tennessee. Team 3/C improved their ranking with a 6th over all position in the finals.

Mr. Tran sees tremendous growth and potential in our students and our Robotics program.

“Participating in the Robotics program allows students to problem solve, and it gives them the opportunity to understand that there are different solutions for the same problem. Their robot is a never-ending cycle of improvement. This program gives students the opportunity to become leaders and encourages creativity and teamwork,” he said.

Vex Robotics blends coding, mechanics, and teamwork, using kits and challenges designed for different educational levels. Each year VEX creates a challenge for participants to design a robot that will accomplish various tasks in one minute. This year's competition was called "mix and match” with students challenged to pick up different color pins and stack them. To maximize points, the students had to work with another team to efficiently stack the pins and load them to specific scoring elements.

For students interested in Robotics, SAA-SDS will offer two summer programs. Ms. Joyner is teaching VEX123 Beginner Robotics for students in grades, and Mr. Tran will teach Vex IQ Robotics for students in grades 4-8. Registration for these programs will open on March 4th.