The robotics teams at Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School in Orillia had a phenomenal year in the VEX IQ Robotics Challenge.
At the Live Remote Provincial Championships, held on April 17, 2021, PF Robotics Jr. team 1705D, made up of Grade 8 student Luke S. from Notre Dame Catholic School and Grade 7 student Shauna B. from Monsignor Lee Catholic School put up impressive scores, and wowed the judges during an interview about their engineering principles, earning them the Engineering Design Award.
PF Robotics Jr. team 1705A comprised of Grade 3 student Marcus M. and Grade 6 student Troy W., both from Notre Dame Catholic School and Grade 7 student Zachary E. from Monsignor Lee Catholic School were honoured to receive the Excellence Award at the Provincial Championships. Each of these awards qualified the teams for the 2021 VEX IQ Live Remote World Championship Dallas, Texas during the week of May 23-29, 2020.
Along with nearly 3200 teams from around the globe, both teams competed in the Live Remote Skills Tournament at the VEX IQ World Championships. In the Elementary division (grades 3-6) and Middle school division (grades 7-9), 202 and 259 teams, respectively, qualified for the championships. For the Live Remote Skills section of the tournament, each team needed to score as many points as possible in a maximum of 3 driving runs, and 3 programming runs. Teams were then ranked according to their top combination of scores. Each PF Robotics Jr. team finished in the top ten of their respective divisions.
Each team's strong performance on the field, in combination with outstanding documentation of their Engineering Design process, coupled with a solid interview conducted by industry professionals, made each team a top contender for all awards at the VEX IQ Live Remote World Championships. Each PF Robotics team was awarded Excellence, the top award in their respective divisions at the World competition. The award pre-qualifies each team for the VEX IQ World Championship 2022 in Dallas, Texas.
Coaches Jason Janisse and Mike Milliard were floored by the announcement. “Ontario is a powerhouse in global Vex IQ competitions. We are humbled to have the opportunity to compete amongst giants, and are honoured to receive the Excellence award in two divisions at the VEX IQ Live Remote World Championships", said Mike Milliard, head coach.
"Mike and I are so proud of our teams for their hard work and dedication to robotics throughout the pandemic. We are grateful to have had this opportunity to go along in this journey with our kids", said Jason Janisse, robotics coach.
Each team will now take some well-deserved time off to reflect on the season, and prepare for the next season that begins in July 2021.