Kathy Stewart, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Ten middle school teams from Prince William County are traveling to California to compete in the VEX World Tournament of robotics.
According to Prince William County Schools, students build robots to tackle a predetermined challenge and try to score as many points as possible. The hands-on work allows students to build problem-solving and teamwork skills.
Last week, 64 teams clashed at Roboticon in Prince William County. The competition, held March 9 at Forest Park High School, pitted VEX teams from Prince William, the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, as well as private schools and home school students against each other.
“Roboticon is a middle school competition almost like the superbowl of robotics,” says Denyse Carroll. She’s the regional STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education coordinator for Prince William and Manassas.
Competing in California will be: two teams from Rippon Middle School, three teams from Bull Run Middle and one team from Stonewall Middle School, two from Manassas Christian School, one from Manassas Park Middle School and one from Marsteller Middle School.
“We are the one of the largest and fastest growing VEX robotics regions in the state and in the nation,” Carroll says.
Carroll says there are 250 middle school teams in the entire state of Virginia and that 168 of those teams are from the Prince William County area.
The tournament will be held April 17-20 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
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