By Sadie Biehl
Two Mashpee robotics teams returned home earlier this month from the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas with an award and lots of great experiences.
The two teams representing Mashpee High School were the Aviators, with Katrina Mayen and Jamie Hughes, and the Out of Stock team, with Ethan Lu, Sam Johnson, Cam Perry, and Sean Ware. Each team was in a separate division, with the Aviators placing 19th in their division and Out of Stock placing 23rd in their division.
Throughout the past year, the students have been meticulously designing and building their robots to participate in games formulated to showcase their skill. 820 teams from countries around the world, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Columbia, New Zealand and Taiwan were in attendance.
The Aviators took home the Inspiration Award, which was given to one team in each division. The team and the robotics team advisor, Mrs. Hough, agreed that this was one of the highlights of the trip. “The girls were given the award based on their ability to show great sportsmanship, compete at a high level, and earn the respect of other teams they competed against,” Mrs. Hough said.
Two Mashpee robotics teams returned home earlier this month from the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas with an award and lots of great experiences.
The two teams representing Mashpee High School were the Aviators, with Katrina Mayen and Jamie Hughes, and the Out of Stock team, with Ethan Lu, Sam Johnson, Cam Perry, and Sean Ware. Each team was in a separate division, with the Aviators placing 19th in their division and Out of Stock placing 23rd in their division.
Throughout the past year, the students have been meticulously designing and building their robots to participate in games formulated to showcase their skill. 820 teams from countries around the world, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Columbia, New Zealand and Taiwan were in attendance.
The Aviators took home the Inspiration Award, which was given to one team in each division. The team and the robotics team advisor, Mrs. Hough, agreed that this was one of the highlights of the trip. “The girls were given the award based on their ability to show great sportsmanship, compete at a high level, and earn the respect of other teams they competed against,” Mrs. Hough said.
“My favorite part was playing with a lot of higher level teams and seeing exactly how far they can go and definitely holding our own in those situations.”
Katrina and Jamie emphasized that they loved making connections with people from across the world who shared their interests in robotics. The judges recognized their enthusiasm which helped them win the award.
After finding out they qualified for the championship less than two months prior to leaving for Texas, it has been a whirlwind of excitement for the Aviators. Katrina Mayen described her favorite takeaways from the trip, saying, “My favorite part was playing with a lot of higher level teams and seeing exactly how far they can go and definitely holding our own in those situations.”
The competition took place over the weekend of May 7. The first day was an opportunity for the students to get some practice in and make connections with other teams in their division, as well as the first set of skills competition. On Friday, they competed in qualification matches all day. The aviators played seven matches, while Out of Stock played eight matches. These matches were used to determine their rank in the division. Because each team gets to play ten qualification matches total, the Aviators got to play their remaining three matches the next morning, and Out of Stock got to play two.
On Saturday afternoon, each team selected other teams to compete against in their bracket. Although the Aviators and Out of Stock lost their brackets, they still placed well and enjoyed the finals and closing ceremonies that night.
Mrs. Hough and members of the teams are especially thankful for community support on their journey to the World Championship for robotics. Katrina also noted her gratitude for Mrs. Hough’s leadership, saying, “She is a really really good mentor and coach to us, and she always supports us.”
The group already has plans for next year, with the hope of attending the VEX Robotics World Championship again. As for upcoming months, Mrs. Hough told the Falconer, “The new game has been announced called Spinning Up and the teams will start to design and build new robots to start competing. We are looking forward to hosting a scrimmage in June for the new game for students to try out their first designs.” Members of both teams agree that the championship was an extremely special opportunity, and are looking forward to starting a new season of robotics.