Students in Notre Dame’s lower and middle schools participated in a VEX IQ robotics tournament in Rochester Hills over the weekend and took home six of seven possible awards.
According to Jerry Palardy, one of the “Bumble Bees” team mentors, there were a total of 16 teams participating in the competition and the Bees fared very well. In fact, he said, many of their scores ranked them high in the world.
“The Programming Skills award went to Bumble Bees team #3333P with Bees team #3333Q taking second,” Palardy said. “Their scores currently rank them fifth and sixth in the world out of over 1,700 teams.”
The competition’s Excellence award went to Notre Dame team #3333Q (Maddy Beaudoin, Myles Hill and Lee Lindsey). The Teamwork Championship award went to teams #3333Q and #3333P (Paolo Fregoli, Giuseppe Fregoli, John Milback and Aaron Palardy).
Bumble Bees team #3333J (Casey Burke, Teegan McLeod, Joey Thomas and Vivian Williams) took second in the Teamwork Championship category.
The Design Award went to team #3333A (Dylan Davis, Oliver Kayi, Jackson Kreiger and Vlad Lovin).
Finally, team #3333Q won the Robot Skills award, with a score that puts them in a tie for 10th place in the world.
Palardy said he is very proud of what the students are doing this early in the competition season. “It was a fantastic weekend for the kids! The Bumble Bees are having fun, learning STEM, and winning too!”
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About the VEX IQ Challenge
The VEX IQ Challenge, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, is a brand new STEM program for elementary and middle school students (ages 8-14).
Students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, will build a robot using the VEX IQ robotics platform to solve an engineering challenge that is presented in the form of a game. VEX IQ Challenge teams will work together scoring points in Teamwork Matches, and also display their robot’s skills individually in driver controlled and autonomous Skills Challenges.
In addition to building robots, the VEX IQ Challenge will encourage students to actively learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics with a STEM themed research project that consists of a written or media presentation.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.