A new champion has been crowned following Tuesday's districtwide fifth grade VEX Robotics competition!
Amelia, Brooklyn, and Elijah from Turtle Creek STEAM Academy - Woodland Hills School District prevailed in the competition that featured their classmates alongside students from Edgewood STEAM Academy and Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy. Now an annual event, the elementary competition challenges students to work in groups to navigate their robotic vehicles through a set course.
The course features various tasks that reward the students with points if successfully completed. Past courses have had themes around the Mars Rover and deep ocean exploration. This year, the course had a theme centered on village engineering and repair - clearing downed trees, lifting powerlines, removing rubble, and more.
The competition began with each class getting an opportunity to score as many points as possible. The top scores from each class then advanced to the next round to determine which team would represent each elementary school in the final round.
Along with the championship team and the finalists from each school, various teams were recognized for their unique builds, their coding abilities, their teamwork and communication, their positive energy, and more.
As a special treat, the students watched a teacher and staff round at the end that featured Assistant to the Superintendent for Curriculum Dr. Eddie Willson, Turtle Creek Assistant Principal Mr. Andrew Cress, Turtle Creek teacher Ms. Jamie Welch, and Edgewood teacher Ms. Meagan Hlavsa. It was a spirited competition and Mr. Cress was very impressive with his coding abilities, but Ms. Hlavsa was recognized as the staff winner!