HOPE, Arkansas – May 8, 2024 – Hope Academy of Public Service students from Ghostface VEX IQ Competition team 71801, secured the Energy Aeard at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas this past week. The students collaborated with over 400 teams from over 40 states and 50 nations. HAPS VEX IQ Ghostface team is comprised of Samuel Fellows, Sophia Finagan, Aracely Garcia and Johnny Paredes.
Key criteria must meet to win this award are maintaining a high level of excitement and energy throughout the event, having a clear passion for robotics enriches the event experience for others, and students must demonstrate teamwork and effective communication skills with other teams.
In the VEX IQ Competition, students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, build a robot using simple, snap-together VEX IQ parts to solve an engineering challenge that is presented each year in the form of a game. Teams work together to score points in Teamwork Matches and get to show off their skills individually in driver-controlled and programming Robot Skills Challenges. Team Lil Rascals represented Arkansas in the elementary division and iis comprised of Kensley Miller, Emma Montalban, E’Mahree Muldrow and Graydon Randle
In addition to building robots, the STEM Research Project component of the VEX IQ Competition encourages students to actively explore an engineering challenge of their choice and share their research findings with event judges and their community.
The HopeBot teams appreciate the support from community members, Atwoods, Slim Chickens, SWEPCO, and HPS Magnet Programs for making this trip possible.
The VEX IQ Competition fosters student development of teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking, project management, and communication skills required to prepare them to become the next generation of innovators and problem solvers.
Mr. Born, the team’s coach said, “Proud doesn’t begin to capture the performance of these two teams over the past week. They took unique designs to the championship and represented Hope with excellence! They have shown that STEM has a place in rural Arkansas both for young girls and boys. Team Ghostface was also the only Arkansas team to bring home a Worlds Award and we can’t wait to see what these incredible students do in the near future!”
“Teamwork, problem-solving, and ingenuity are all on display at a VEX IQ Competition event and students develop these skills all year long by participating on a robotics team,” said Dan Mantz, CEO of the REC Foundation. “Together, with the support of educators, coaches, and mentors, we’re fostering students’ passion for STEM at a young age to ensure that we have a generation that is dedicated to creating new discoveries and tackling life’s future challenges.”
The REC Foundation manages the VEX IQ Competition that many schools participate in around the world. VEX Competitions make up the world’s largest and fastest-growing competitive robotics programs for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the world. There are more than 23,000 VEX teams from 58 countries that participate in over 2,300 events worldwide.
More information about the VEX Robotics Competition is available at roboticseducation.org.
About the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation
The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation’s mission is to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, affordable, and sustainable robotics engineering programs.
