RVC middle schoolers impress judges at world robotics tourney

The South Side Middle School robotics team returned to the Vex Robotics World Championships in Kentucky April 23-25 and wowed the judges with its STEM farming project and steady robotics skills.

The team, led by advisers and middle school teachers Dan LaManna and Ryan Bockelmann, earned a spot in the March 4 New York state competition with its performance in robotics, but secured a spot at the worlds through a STEM Research Project Award. The project, which focused on hydroponics history, types and technological advances, was showcased with an LED poster display and portable hydroponic lab using recycled water bottles that included a lettuce plant.

For the worlds, the students expanded on their hydroponics project from the state tournament and created “The STEM Solution for Urban Farming.” They looked at different ways they could use technology to solve farming issues in urban environments, such as “farm-bot” technology, which does not require human labor, a vertical growing garden and robotic lighting for warehouse farming so it does not require as much electricity.

“We ended up having kids from New Zealand sharing farming solutions with our kids,” said LaManna. “It was pretty amazing to watch.”

The students were matched up against more than 1,400 teams from over 50 countries with one robot and another STEM project. South Side was not selected as the winner of the STEM project, but LaManna said that a judge from Kentucky wandered over to their station and raved about their project.

“The judge that we talked to was blown away about [it],” he said. “He gave the kids great feedback and brought some of the other judges to come see our booth.”

The team placed 117th out of 588 entries in the robotics portion of the competition, and earned 74 out of a possible 77 points in teamwork.

The opening ceremonies at the games are reminiscent of the Olympics, with teams from each country entering the Kentucky Exposition Center waving their respective national flags. Students Anna Bingham and Thomas Eckrich represented South Side.

The victory capped a memorable year for the team. In February, when the 2017-18 district budget was announced, the students learned that the school board had heard their funding pleas and earmarked $20,000 for the high school and middle school robotics programs.