Fifty South Florida Robotics Teams including four from the City of Pembroke Pines Charter Middle School West Robotics Club participated in the Second Annual Junior Orange Bowl Vex IQ Tournament, held in at the Miami Springs Recreation Center in Miami Springs, Florida.
The daylong event featured a Skills Challenge in the morning where the PPCM West Campus Mecha-Knights Team dominated in the Skills Challenge event. The team drove and programmed for two and a half hours, which resulted in the Skills Champion Award with a score of 154 points.
In the afternoon, the four teams competed in Teamwork Challenge. “Our teams fought hard the entire afternoon and following the qualification rounds each of our teams advance to the finals,” said Fermin Vasquez, M.Ed., 7th Grade Advanced Life Science/8th Grade Physical Science, Science Department Chair, PPCMS Robotics Club Co-Sponsor, Pembroke Pines Charter Middle School West Campus.
The Teamwork Challenge standing were:
* Mechanical Madness - 1st Place with 630 points
* Mecha-Knights - 5th Place with 519 points
* Diamond Jags - 14th Place with 345 points
* W.A.B.-Bot - 16th Place with 318 points.
“All of our teams worked hard to be #1,” added Vasquez. At the end of the tournament, the Pembroke Pines Charter Middle School West Campus Mechanical Madness Robotics team won First Place Overall and were crowned the Teamwork Challenge Champions! The Mecha-Knights finished in Third Place, the W.A.B.-Bot in Tenth Place, and the Diamond Jags in Twelfth Place. The Mecha-Knights Team earned the coveted Middle School Division Excellence Award. This award recognizes the one team, which outperformed all others in daylong challenges and competitions.
Mecha-Knights: Alex Garcia-Marin, Brady Garrison, Ryan McGovern, Christina Zhang
Diamond Jags: Heather Clemmensen, Vrinda Gupta, Molly Masson, Ann Titus,
W.A.B.- Bot: Nicholas Jara, Alexander Jennings, Jeremy Jiang, Joshua Rhoden
Mechanical Madness: Victor Delgado, Brian Fadel, Christopher Gahfana, Matthew O’Brien
Next up for the Pembroke Pines Charter School Robotics Club are a slew of tournaments throughout the month of November and December. The teams will be competing at different schools in south Florida. Their next tournament will be at Jose De Diego Vex Robothon State Qualifier in Miami, FL on November 18, 2017.
"I am proud of our Robotics Teams and their level of commitment and drive. They truly represent our school's purpose to empower students for the possibilities of tomorrow,” added Michael Castellano, Principal of the Pembroke Pines Charter School - West Campus.
History:
The 2016-2017 school year was a grand slam for the West Campus Robotics Teams competing and winning at the local level, eventually earning three coveted team slots at the 2017 Florida State Vex IQ Championship held in Tampa Florida. The PPCMS-West Campus Steel Jags, Tech Titans, and Mecha-Knights competed with sixty-one of the best Florida teams in the daylong event. All three teams competed fiercely in teamwork and individual skills challenges with the Steel Jags and the Mecha-Knights finishing fifth and eighth, respectively. The West Campus Steel Jags and the Mecha-Knights Teams were invited to compete among 1,400 teams, representing 30 nations in the VEX Worlds 2017 Tournament held in April 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. In overall rankings at Vex World, the Pembroke Pines Charter Middle School - West Campus Robotics Teams placed as follows: Steel Jags - 8th Graders - Team Work Challenge: 85 out of 308 and Skills Challenge: 23 out of 274. Mecha-Knights - seventh graders - Team Work Challenge: 179 out of 308 and Skills Challenge: 62 out of 273. Of the twenty-eight teams representing Florida, ten teams represented South Florida. The PPCMS West Campus was one of two Broward County Schools represented. PPCMS West Campus Steel Jags Sixth out of twenty-eight Florida schools and the PPCMS West Campus Mecha-Knights placed nineteen out of twenty-eight Florida schools.
