By Kaylene Jensen

IJ Holton VEX Robotics Coach

More than 450 elementary, middle, and high school students from around the state will unite at Austin High School on Jan. 19 for the 2018-2019 VEX Robotics Competition game, Turning Point.

The action-packed tournament will feature 95 teams who will compete with and against other schools in a series of back-to-back robotics challenges, made possible by our generous sponsors: Austin Rotary, The Hormel Foundation, and Austin Public Schools. Participants will compete for the championship title by strategically executing the 2018-2019 VEX Robotics Competition game, Turning Point, driving robots they designed, built and programmed.

The 2018-2019 VEX Robotics Competition game, Turning Point is played by stacking caps on posts, by flipping caps, by stacking balls on caps, by toggling flags, by throwing balls, and by parking robots.

This event is one of a series of tournaments taking place internationally throughout the year. VEX competitions are recognized as the largest and fastest growing competitive robotics programs for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and college aged students around the world. VEX competitions represent over 20,000 teams from 45 countries that participate in more than 1,500 VEX competition events worldwide. The season culminates each spring, with the highly-anticipated VEX Robotics World Championship, uniting top qualifying teams from local, state and international VEX Robotics events to crown World Champions.

“It’s eye-opening to see the robots these students design, build and program each season to compete in the game-based engineering challenge,” said Kaylene Jensen, IJ Holton VEX Robotics Coach, of Austin Public Schools. “The VEX Robotics Competition provides kids with an engaging hands-on learning experience that instills a passion for STEM and teaches them how to become critical problem solvers, which will serve them well into their future.” The VEX Robotics Competition is managed by the Robotics Education; Competition Foundation and serves as a vehicle for students to develop critical life skills such as teamwork, leadership and project management, honed through building robots and competing with like-minded students from the local community. More information about the VEX Robotics Competition is available at RoboticsEducation.org, RobotEvents.com, and VEXRobotics.com.

Putting on an event this size requires numerous volunteers, and we still have many opportunities available, including judges and volunteers to help reset the fields. To take a look at open spots, or to sign-up, please visit https://goo.gl/vMrAJc. Without the support of the Austin community, our students wouldn’t have access to this amazing opportunity. Thank you.