Anyone who ever failed Grade 12 math might have felt somewhat inadequate visiting Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School Saturday.
That’s because the school hosted the Rotary Club of Orillia VEX IQ robotics event for elementary school students.
Featuring 47 teams from across Ontario, students in two divisions (Grades 3 to 5 and Grades 6 to 8) presented their robot creations as they took on others in skills and head-to-head teamwork competitions.
“Last year, we had 20 teams, so it’s really grown, not just here but across the province,” said Patrick Fogarty teacher and event co-organizer Jason Janisse.
“We have 120 kids here today. We’re happy that they’re having fun, learning skills and getting a strong sense of teamwork.”
Students arrived at the tournament with their robots, which had to be 11-inches wide by 19-inches long and no higher than 15 inches.
Fellow Patrick Fogarty teacher Mike Milliard started the high school robotics team four years ago with area elementary feeder school students now participating in twice-weekly, after-school building and programming workshops.
Milliard’s son Marcus, a Grade 2 student at Notre Dame Catholic School, participated in Saturday’s offering.
“I like the robotics tournament because we can drive our robots,” the seven-year-old said. “Another thing I like the most is that we get to have fun.”
His partner, Rachael Kendall, 8, said she likes to practise what they’ve been working on after school.
Hillsdale’s Teegan Hood, 12, is a member of the Barrie Techno Tigers Robotics team.
“It’s fun, exciting and can be a bit stressful because you only have a minute during the skills part,” he said. “I’ve been involved with robotics for three years. I’ve just always been interested in it. I thought it was really cool.”
Added 10-year-old Bennett Mulligan, who’s part of the Clearview Cybergnomes Robotics team: “I like robots, computers and building and designing things.”
Chloe Chu, Jade Guo and Melissa Lipson travelled from Toronto to represent their Richmond Hill school, Academy for Gifted Children - P.A.C.E.
“I didn’t think I’d like robotics at first,” Chloe said, noting stereotypes still exist when it comes to girls working with robots.
“People think, in general, that boys are smarter than girls, but that’s not true.”
Added Jade: “When something doesn’t work, we have to find a solution.”
Presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, the VEX IQ Challenge, provides elementary and middle school students with open-ended robotics and research project challenges designed to enhance their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills through hands-on, student-centered learning.
Five years ago, Dean Jacksch was involved with starting Simcoe County’s first robotics team (Barrie Techno Tigers Robotics).
“Now, we have eight teams personally (Barrie) and there are 18 teams total in Simcoe County,” said Jacksch, who serves as his team’s lead mentor.
“It’s growing really nicely. The kids are at an age where they want to explore and they want to have fun. We’re emphasizing the collaboration, not the competition.”
