Sixteen Charles County Public Schools robotics teams participated in the Southern Maryland VEX IQ Tournament on February 8 at Great Mills High School. The event featured student teams demonstrating their skills in robot design, programming, and problem-solving.
Two teams from Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School, Team 31890A and Team 31890B, qualified for the state competition at South Hagerstown High School on February 22. Team 31890A consists of fourth grader Jack Wheeler and fifth graders Elena Dutton, Eli Hamilton, Sadie Wustner, Luke Riffle, and Evie Lukas. Their coaches are Jacob Gerding, a media specialist at Higdon, and Darryll Bramer, a community volunteer. Team 31890B includes fourth graders Jayla White, Garrett Hales, and Elizabeth Bowling-Cook, as well as fifth graders Madelyn Rawlings, Logen Bowling, and David Kelley. The team is also coached by Gerding and Bramer.
In addition to the two state-qualifying teams, several Charles County schools received awards for outstanding performance in different categories. Team 9041A, the Wildcats from William B. Wade Elementary School, won the Think Award, which recognizes the most effective and consistent use of coding and programming techniques to solve game challenges. The team is coached by Robert Crowley, a physical education teacher at Wade, and consists of fifth graders Wesley Perez, Sebastian Arco, Blake Burton, Xaiden Oubre, Talha Qureshi, Emmanuel Hosendorf, and Logan Anderson.
Team 9041B, also from William B. Wade Elementary School, earned the Judges Award, presented to teams that demonstrate exemplary effort, professionalism, and teamwork. The team is made up of fourth graders Jeremiah Donald, Willa Watney, Isabella Pachecco, Rachael Genson, and Zahran Sheikh, along with fifth grader Sa’mya Adeyeye.
The Robo Huskies, Team 31890A from Higdon Elementary, received the Innovate Award, which highlights a team with a well-documented design process that includes a novel aspect of robot design or gameplay strategy. The CyberHawks, Team 59351A from William A. Diggs Elementary School, won the Build Award for constructing a robot with a strong design and high attention to detail. Team members include fifth graders Samantha Holland, Eldana Derese, Brooke Newford, Camryn Buoy, and TraVell West, along with fourth grader Autumn Proctor. The team is coached by instructional assistant Khamarri Hemsley.
Team 95187A, the Owls from Arthur Middleton Elementary School, received the Inspire Award for an outstanding STEM research project presentation. Team members include fourth graders Santiago Real and Samriddeh Bhattrai, as well as fifth graders Giovanni Heath, Dominic Nelson, Manasseh Amoah, Oluchi Mbah, Caroline Youmans, Dipika Jadeja, Khyia Brockenberry, Kyler Price-Deal, and Meagan Jones. The team is coached by science teacher Susan Heywood.
The VEX IQ Challenge is a competitive robotics program designed for elementary and middle school students to develop their skills in engineering, teamwork, and programming. This year’s challenge, Rapid Relay, took place on a rectangular field where teams competed in a Teamwork Challenge, working collaboratively in 60-second matches to score points.
With two teams advancing to the state competition and several others earning awards, Charles County students showcased their growing robotics skills and ability to compete at a high level.
