A pair of robotics teams from Navigate/NIDES (North Island Distance Education School) made some noise at the VEX World Championships last month in Louisville, Kentucky.
The B team placed sixth out of 97 teams in the science division, finishing the competition with a 9-1 win-loss record. The team qualified for playoffs, making it to the semi-finals.
The F team was knocked out in the first round of playoffs in the engineering division, but wound up with the bronze medal.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever brought back a trophy from worlds,” NIDES teacher/team coach Stew Savard said.
The NIDES F team won the Build Award, which encompasses overall design and documentation design, among other things. Backed by a three-volume engineering journal which they compiled, the students were able to explain the choices they made as they built the robot.
“Clearly the work they did was really well received,” Savard said.
There were 580 teams from 35 countries at worlds. Nine teams from B.C. attended. Navigate/NIDES — which had earned a spot at worlds last year — was the only Island school at this year’s competition.
“Canada did well at worlds this year,” said Savard, noting two Canadian teams reached a gold and silver medal position in the round-robin finals.
“The Valley has a history of doing fairly well in robotics at worlds,” he added, noting Isfeld Secondary also has a world bronze medal to its credit. “It speaks to the potential of the kids on the Island.”