No victories, but good year for learning robotics

MATTAWA - Four teams, comprised of 20 students, from Wahluke Junior High (WJH) participated in the Washington State VEX Robotics Middle School Tournament in February.

Each team battled its way to the end of qualifications for an opportunity to compete in the final alliances. In the end, three of the four teams had the opportunity to compete in the early rounds of elimination.

With the conclusion of the event, the teams marked the end of this year's VEX Robotics season. A smaller group of students will depart for Seattle in late March for the Technology Student Association (TSA) state finals.

That event will closely follow the format of the previous Vex competitions and give students one more opportunity to tune their skills and bring home the prize in robotics.

WJH robotics teams have not won a competition, but no one is distraught over the fact. Learning is the goal.

"I'm super proud of our students at Wahluke Junior High. They have accomplished a lot," robotics coach Myron Hamilton said. "They have been competitive in all events and have shown lots of growth from the previous year."

Itzel Guerrero, a student at WJH and one of four team captains, remarked on the yearlong adventure, saying it was memorable.

"We had the chance to go to more competitions than we did last year. We even had our own home competition," she said. "Our teams, unfortunately, didn't win any of the competitions, but we had a good time. The best part of robotics is the people within the club."

According to instructor and coach Arthur Morken, students put a lot of time into their project, enjoying the atmosphere and learning valuable lessons along the way. Engineering design, electrical concepts, and programming are among the forefront of what students learned.

"Perhaps more important was the opportunity for critical thinking skills, working in teams that represent professional organizations, and seeing how competition in real life can elevate our expectations of yourself and others," Morken said..

Esmeralda Lagunas, also a student, said participation in TSA gave her the opportunity to compete in different activities and competitions such as structure building and problem solving.

"Every day we work toward improving our robot, trying to get better and better each time," Delveth Arellano said. "In Robotics, one can only get better each day, which is a real treat.

"There are many challenges that one has to overcome along the way, such as staying in the 18"x18" size limit, using only 10 motors, programming the right commands, and the always excruciating job of wiring."

Arellano has been a steady contributor to the program and really likes what he is able to do with the other students.

"It's a good idea to go and talk to other people and get some insight on the story behind their creations," he said. "If they like your way of competing, they might join you in an alliance.

"Everyone is kind to one another. I've seen random competitors drop what they're doing immediately to help another competitor from a different team in distress. The amount of sportsmanship displayed in these events really makes anyone feel at home."