Lauren Flores fidgeted a bit Saturday from the stands at the gym at Westview MIddle School where she watched her eight-grade daughter Delaney compete in the school’s VEX robotics competition.
Flores admits she was nervous watching Delaney’s team take on 19 other squads as they tested their robots’ ability to pick up a set of small rings and then balance a seesaw. The tasks have to be finished in two minutes while high school robotics students referee each match.
Flores said she felt those same nerves watching her sons play traditional sports. “She (Delaney) and her team have been working together for weeks after school on this,” Fores said. “They study and do the building on their own. It’s been really awesome for them. I hope they do well.”
Saturday’s competition signaled the start of the district’s VEX robotics competition that will eventually qualify teams for state championship in March, Daniel Hernandez, robotics and computer science teacher at Westview Middle, said.
Last year, many robotics competitions were shelved because of COVID-19 restrictions, Hernandez said.
This year, as many as 140 teams in different grade levels are competing, said Hernandez, adding several past robotics champions have gone to study robotics and technology in colleges and universities, he added.
“This is a big deal,” Hernandez said. “Robotics for many of them have sparked something in them that may lead to something bigger down the road.”
The St. Vrain School District has seen a 1,116% increase in the number of students participating in VEX robotics, according to a district news release. Hernandez said the interest is sparked by the many facets of robotics competition including teamwork and applying knowledge in STEM - Science Technology Engineering and Math - in a real life setting.
“But we also emphasize kindness and sportsmanship among the team,” Hernandez said. “When a robot goes down, everyone steps up to see if they can help fix it.”
Kierstin Glaze, a member of the Soaring Heights Middle School team - called 52800 B - said she got hooked on the robotics competition after she saw her older sister compete a few years ago. “They just looked really fun,” Glaze said. “I decided then I wanted to do it.”
Other members of the Soaring Heights team - Matthew Weber, Vanicia Thomas and Addison Wolver - maneuvered their robot through the tense two-minute competition, watching it drop small rings on a beam. The competition “is pretty intense,” Weber said.
