La Plata, MD – Students from Charles County Public elementary and middle schools competed in the 2016 College of Southern Maryland Junior LEGO Division Robotics Championship held Saturday, April 16 at the La Plata campus. Ten Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) teams earned awards at the event.
A total of 53 teams from schools in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, as well as local private schools, competed in the event. This year’s competition was titled “World Class” and required teams to research and develop projects and solutions about energy conservation and to build robots to perform in simulations.
Four Charles County Public middle school teams earned awards at the secondary level. The Hanson Hackers One team from John Hanson Middle School received the Research Award and the second-place Project Award among competing middle school teams. The Research Award is given to a team that uses diverse resources to formulate an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the program they have identified. The Hanson Hackers One team researched the topic of wind energy. The Project Award recognizes teams that excel in research, innovative solution and presentation.
Students on the team include sixth graders Noah Burnett, Hailey Carroll, Corbin Cooke, Alexander Hopkins and Conor Orsillo-Null, and seventh graders Skyler Adams, Alexandria Barrow, Matthew Kotlarsic, Jordan Moss and Bryce Powell. Coaches of the team are Dan Meltsner, a computer teacher at Hanson and Ginger Brown, a parent volunteer.
The Majic Bots team from Mattawoman Middle School received the Robot Design Award. The award recognizes the top all-around team in the robot design areas of mechanical design, programming, strategy and innovation. Members of the team include sixth graders Robert Gore, Sean McLeod, Jayden Rutledge, Iyan Tookes and Robbie Warren, seventh graders Jalen Crump and Yasmine Jones, and eighth graders Paul Demontagnac, Phiroze Mistry, Christian Reid and Mailei Rodriguez. Coaches of the team are Mattawoman science teachers John Paine and Leah Whetzel.
The Robo Bros team from Piccowaxen Middle School received two awards at the event – the Against All Odds and Presentation awards. The Against All Odds Award recognizes the team that improvises and overcomes a difficult situation while demonstrating a positive attitude and respect toward their peers. The Presentation Award is given to the team that effectively communicates the problem they have identified. The Robo Bros team researched and presented on solar energy and how
Students on the Robo Bros team include sixth graders Chase Miller, Eric Valentine and Brody Yorio. Piccowaxen science teacher Brian Colaizzi coaches the team.
The Cyber Stallions team from Benjamin Stoddert Middle School received the Mechanical Design Award. This award is presented to the team that designs and develops a mechanically sound robot that is durable, efficient and highly capable of performing challenge missions. Students on the team are sixth graders Nicholas Delpesche, Melanie Rodriguez, Jasmine Sciarillo and Yeabsira Temesgen, seventh graders Kent De Los Santos and Antoineus Mattocks, and eighth grader Michael Foxx. Coach of the team is Stoddert science teacher Brian Provance.
Six Charles County Public Schools teams received awards at the elementary school level.
The Lego Avengers team from Indian Head Elementary School received the Strategy & Innovation Award. This award recognizes a team that uses solid engineering practices and a well-developed strategy to design and build a robot. Students on the team include fourth graders Tiwaloluwa Dapo-Adeyemo and Ivana Ebson, and fifth graders Olivia Ahern, Colin Kirby, Victoria Gordon and Adrian Keys. Brendan French, Indian Head’s technology facilitator, is the team coach.
The Energizer Tigers team from T.C. Martin Elementary School received the Innovative Solution Award. This award recognizes a team for a solution that is creative and well researched. The team developed a hypothesis to help their school save money on heating and cooling that included a model of revolving doors. Team members are fourth graders Christopher Baldwin, Anthony Bradshaw, Christian Gehrman, Karley Nicholl and Asher Walters, and fifth graders Jackson Bowler, Cohen Porter, Alexander Vigneault and Samantha Vigneault. Coaches of the team are Michelle Reeves, science teacher at Martin, and parent volunteer Ginger Brown.
The Techno-Phins 2.0 team from Mary H. Matula Elementary School received the Mechanical Award among competing elementary school teams. This award recognizes a team that designs and develops a mechanically sound robot that is durable, efficient and highly capable of performing challenge missions. Students on the team include fourth graders Daniel Kang, Aaliyah Mitchell, Patrick Takeuchi, Asia Taylor, Reagan Savoy and Kyra Shafer, and fifth graders Kyle Blanton, Zoe Hakim, Nathan Michael and Todd Taylor. Coach of the team is Christina Caron, a learning resource teacher at Matula.
The Solarbots team from Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School received the Robot Design Award. This award recognizes the top all-around team in the robot design areas of mechanical design, programming, and strategy and innovation. Team members include fourth graders Ben Cottle, Daniel Herrera and Jackson Wilkinson, and fifth graders Callie Ackerman, Joey Hastings, Victoria Herrera, Brady Keech and Regan Miller. Coaches of the team are Margaret Grove, science teacher at Mitchell, and Corey Specht, a fourth-grade teacher at Mitchell.
The Electrobots team from Mitchell received the Gracious Professionalism Award for showing respect to their peers and other teams competing at the event. Team members include fourth graders Griffin Eck and Camille Love, and fifth graders Will Edwards, Travis Jennings, Madison Koontz, Harry Kriemelmeyer, Steven McPhee and Raheel Nazir. Specht and Grove also coach this team.
The Dynamic Awesome Robots from Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School received the Programming Award among competing elementary school teams. This award recognizes a team that utilizes outstanding programming principles, including clear, concise and reusable code that allows their robot to perform challenge missions autonomously and consistently. Students on the team include fifth graders Aaron Austria, Dailyn Gaines, Xavier King, Elizabeth Martinez Argueta, Lena McBride, Erika Urrego and Ethan Yake. Coach of the team is Jason Peer, Dr. Mudd’s school counselor.
For more information about the challenge, visit the College of Southern Maryland’s website at http://www.csmd.edu/roboticschallenge/.
Charles County Public Schools provides 26,300 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 36 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.
