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Students Take Top Honors At The PCS Vex IQ Chattahoochee Slapshot League Finals
February 6, 2023
Phenix City And Lakewood Elementary School Students Take Top Honors At The PCS Vex IQ Chattahoochee Slapshot League Finals
Local Teams Qualify for a Spot at the Alabama State VEX IQ Championship
Phenix City, Ala.— Phenix City Elementary School’s PCES HAWKS 4th Grade competition team [36046B] won the Excellence Award at the PCS VEX IQ Chattahoochee Slapshot League Finals in Phenix City, AL this past weekend. Students from Phenix City Elementary School PCES Hawks Robotics VEX IQ competition team [36046E] and Lakewood Elementary School LES_Robotics competition team [65801D], secured The Teamwork Champion award. Both honors qualify these teams for a chance to showcase their skills at the Alabama State VEX IQ championship to be held at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on the Auburn University Campus later this month.
Phenix City School’s VEX IQ Competition teams are comprised of students in the fourth, fifth grade and eighth grades. In the VEX IQ Competition, students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, build a robot using simple, snap-together VEX IQ parts to solve an engineering challenge that is presented each year in the form of a game. Teams work together to score points in Teamwork Matches and get to show off their skills individually in driver-controlled and programming Robot Skills Challenges.
The VEX IQ Competition fosters student development of teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking, project management, and communication skills required to prepare them to become the next generation of innovators and problem solvers.
James Dunkle, the League event planner said, “I am proud of these young students for their hard work and desire to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to building and programming a robot, and then going through the rigors of competing with their creation. The VEX IQ Competition has truly sparked their natural curiosity about STEM subjects, which will serve them well throughout their education.” Phenix City Elementary School’s VEX IQ Competition teams meet after school once per week.
All six elementary schools and South Girard Middle School from the Phenix City School System l participated in this past weekend’s event. While teams from Phenix City Elementary School and Lakewood Elementary School won the event overall, many other teams received esteemed awards. Sherwood Elementary School Lion Robotics Club -Robot Skills Champion (VIQC), Lakewood Elementary School, LES Robotics -Judges Award (VIQC), PCES Hawks Robotics also won the design award.
“Teamwork, problem-solving, and ingenuity are all on display at a VEX IQ Competition event and students develop these skills all year long by participating on a robotics team,” said Dan Mantz, CEO of the REC Foundation. “Together, with the support of educators, coaches, and mentors, we’re fostering students’ passion for STEM at a young age to ensure that we have a generation that is dedicated to creating new discoveries and tackling life’s future challenges.”
The REC Foundation manages the VEX IQ Competition that many schools participate in around the world. VEX Competitions make up the world’s largest and fastest-growing competitive robotics programs for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the world. More than 23,000 VEX teams from 58 countries participate in over 2,300 events worldwide.
The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation’s mission is to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, affordable, and sustainable robotics engineering programs. Learn more at roboticseducation.org.