Team 3333T, "The Terminators," Samuel Phillips, Hayden Howard and Hills Howard, won second place in their division. "Our highest ranking team, silver medalists," said Bumblebees mentor Louise Palardy.
“What a great experience this was for our students,” said Bumblebee mentor Louise Palardy, who made the trip to Louisville with the teams. “For the elementary school division, including our teams, there were 272 teams from all over the world at the championship. The teams were divided into four divisions with 68 teams in each one. Each of our teams was in a different division. All four of our elementary school teams had division rankings in the top 20, qualifying them for the finals.”
The world championships’ middle school division featured 308 teams divided into four divisions with 77 teams in each one. Two of Notre Dame’s middle division teams earned rankings in the top 20, also qualifying them for the finals.
The fourth-grade boys team, 3333T "The Terminators,” which consisted of Hayden Howard, Hills Howard and Samuel Phillips won second place in the Teamwork Challenge in their elementary division, a first for the lower division. The performance ended a spectacular season for The Terminators.
The Terminators won an award at each of their robotic competitions this year, including Excellence Awards at the Kettering University competition, the Notre Dame Elementary School competition and Nissan Farmington Hills competition. At the Michigan state robotics competition, the three boys won the Robotic Skills Award.
The boys said that curiosity and imagination are very important for each team member. They draw and design their own robots and for inspiration, they watch YouTube videos of previous VEX IQ competitions and vote on best options. This year, the team built seven different robots, four of which were used in competitions.
Results from the VEX IQ World Championship:
Elementary School Division (Team 3333T won second place in the Teamwork Challenge in their elementary division, a first for the lower division!):
Team #3333 T – The Terminators won second place in their division – our highest ranking team – Silver Medalists!
Team #3333 J – The Code Crushers finished fourth in their division
Team #3333 K – The Poison Vipers finished fifth in their division
Team #3333 N – Motorheadz finished 10th in their division and 12th in Skills Worldwide
Middle School Division (Two of Notre Dame’s middle-division teams received rankings in the top 20, qualifying them for the finals!):
Team #3333A – The RoboFalcons finished 7th in their division and 10th in Skills Worldwide
Team #3333B – The Engineers who say Ni finished fifth in their division and 13th in Skills Worldwide
Team #3333P – The Followers of Zaza won the Energy Award for their division! (Those on hand said there was certainly a lot of cheering going on!)
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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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." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, 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.