VEX Robotics National Championship

Last week, we cheered on three of our robotics teams who traveled to Guangzhou for the 2025 ACAMIS VEX National Championship. We had one Middle School team and two High School teams. This Championship required each team to first qualify at regional competitions. Our students qualified at competitions in Beijing and at our LifePlus VEX Robotics Competition last month. With 81 teams from 25 schools across the country, the Championship welcomed 500 people to a three-day event packed with matches to earn spots at the VEX Robotics World Championship and to earn one or more of the few awards.

Our Robotics teacher, Mrs. Mesfin, explains the Championship is much tougher. Students are competing against some of the best teams in the country, and they cannot rely on coaches for advice throughout each day. “Every problem they struggle with, they need to figure out by themselves,” says Mrs. Mesfin. “It’s very good for the students. It will build the confidence for them.”

Altogether, the Championship is a culmination of showcasing students’ acquired knowledge, efforts, and skills over months or years of practice. Mrs. Mesfin says our High School team, 82S, began preparing for this year’s competitions immediately after last year’s season. She says students have learned greater persistence, critical thinking, and engineering and coding skills. Our team, 82T, displayed these excellent qualities and competed in the finals in Beijing, at our school, and in Guangzhou.

Congratulations to our High School 82s team for winning the Amaze Award and our Middle School team for winning the Design Award. To win the Amaze Award, a few criteria are “Robot performs at a high level in Driving Skills and Autonomous Coding Skills at the event; Robot is designed and constructed to consistently execute an effective game strategy; and Team interview demonstrates effective communication skills, teamwork, professionalism, and a student-centered ethos.” To win the Design Award, a few criteria are “Engineering Notebook demonstrates clear, complete, and organized record of an iterative Engineering Design Process; team interview demonstrates effective communication skills, teamwork, and professionalism; and Engineering Notebook and Team Interview demonstrate a student-centered ethos.”

With the success of our Middle School students, Mrs. Mesfin plans to put greater emphasis on keeping notebooks next year in her Middle School classes as these can display the efforts students have made and show judges greater detail. “Their notebook can interpret their hard work, can explain the excitement they have for their work.”

Thank you to our coaches, teachers, and chaperones who have supported our students. Well done to our Robotics students on an amazing year. You have worked diligently and learned a great deal. We can’t wait to see what designs you come up with next year!