From Coach Brian Grigsby:
Jefferson Craig’s Robotics Team “Riverbotics” did very well at the Vex IQ Worlds Competition.They competed against teams from all over the world. Many of the teams we competed against are: private, STEM, Engineering, and/or Robotic schools. The fact that we are even at the same level as schools like these is amazing!
Our B team did a wonderful job finishing 46th in their division of 82 teams. Our B team is a young group of 3-6th graders who are new to robotics and they are just learning the “ins and outs” of the program. We let every student drive at the competitions, so the fact that they finish better than about half of their division is wonderful!
Our A team did very well finishing 6th overall in their division finals. Their division was the toughest division at Worlds with the highest overall score and highest average score both coming out of the Hubble division.
My hope is to one day have Robotics as an elective in our school system giving more students the chance to realize their true potential as engineers, programmers, and problem-solvers of the future.
I truly believe that the Vex program is preparing our students for a REAL future. The kids coming out of our program tell us they want to be engineers, programmers, and work on computers. The best example I can give is when I asked Ed, a 6th grader, what he wanted to do in the future. Ed said, “I want to work on air planes when I get older.” I said, “oh an avionic engineer?” He shrugged and shook his head saying, “Is that what they are called?” The next day he came back and corrected me, “Mr. Grigsby, I don’t want to be an avionic engineer, they work with the electronics. I want to be an aeronautical engineer, they design the planes and spaceships”
I have taught for a number of years and coach many sports, but never have I had this kind of success getting kids to give this much serious thought to their future.
Thank you for all your support this year. We are already looking forward to next years team and challenge.
