The Academy VEX IQ team has emerged victorious, earning one of the spots representing Hawaii at the prestigious Worlds competition in Louisville, Ky. This is the first time a school VEX IQ team will travel to a national contest.

At the recent Hawaii State VEX IQ Championship on Feb. 6, 80 elementary and middle school teams competed for a spot in the Worlds competition. One elementary school, the Academy, and one middle school earned their trips to Kentucky.

Team 2436A is comprised of sixth graders Kammiee Ardo, Nanami Mehring and Prudence Russell and is mentored by Robb Mehring, Nanami’s father, and Academy robotics teacher and VEX IQ adviser Peter Park.

VEX IQ is a relatively new science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program for elementary and middle school students ages eight to 14.

According to the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation (REC), “Students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, will build a robot using the VEX IQ robotics platform to solve an engineering challenge that is presented in the form of a game. VEX IQ Challenge teams will work together scoring points in Teamwork Matches, and also display their robot’s skills individually in driver controlled and autonomous Skills Challenges.” The Challenge also includes a research project which features a written or media presentation.

At the World competition on Apr. 20 to 23, teams will compete in Bankshot, a challenge in which two robots work simultaneously to score points on a 4×8 field.

Hawaii will be represented by seven elementary school teams and seven middle school teams. Team 2436A will compete in Louisville as one of the elementary teams.

The Academy’s junior high VEX IQ team will attempt to qualify for a middle school slot in the  Worlds competition as well in upcoming state competitions.

According to KITV4 News, Hawaii has had a 300 percent increase in the number of robotics teams after VEX IQ was introduced to schools three years ago and a 50 plus increase of teams in the past year, one of nine states to do so.

At the Hawaii State VEX IQ Championship, Team 2436A earned the Excellence Award, the highest award presented in the VEX IQ Challenge, as well as the Programming Skills Championship Award.

According to the REC, the Excellence Award is given to the team that demonstrates overall excellence in the VEX IQ challenge. The Programming Skills Champion Award is given to the team with the top programming skills for robot performance.

Mehring said, “I have learned teamwork and respect for my friends and I also learned how to make new friends. It has been a great experience.”

Park was also awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award for outstanding participation and assistance in several of the year’s VEX IQ events. In addition to helping set up and take down fields at competitions, Park has also helped host VEX IQ scrimmages at the Academy Student Center as well as mentor coaches and teams from other schools.

“I am honored to win this award. I enjoy helping with VEX IQ competitions and coaching the students. It’s great to see them learn more about robotics and gain exposure to this new area of science at such a young age,” said Park.