Flagstaff Academy teams headed to championship

Two of Flagstaff Academy’s fifth-grade teams will be competing in the VEX IQ World Championships, which will take place Sunday, April 29 through Wednesday, May 2, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky.

One team, the Saphiras, earned the coveted STEM Research Project Award. This award is only given to one team with the best research and application project. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Research Project Award is presented to the team that shares the most effective STEM Research Project presentation. This presentation effectively demonstrates the students’ depth of understanding of their topic and research findings. The presentation also highlights the students’ work in sharing what they learned in an effective format.

The Wyverns team received the Design Award for implementing the most effective and efficient robot design process, including the submission of an engineering notebook and demonstrating the team’s ability to produce a quality robot with minimal adult assistance.

Flagstaff Academy VEX IQ Robotics teams participated in an amazing six St. Vrain Valley district-wide tournaments, competing alongside 30 to 40 teams at each tournament.

“Our school teams came together and worked very hard over the past four months, meeting a few times a week to create tournament-worthy robots,” Terri Reh, Flagstaff Academy’s innovations teacher, said. “The mere fact that the school’s teams created working robots, in such a short span of time, surprised and impressed quite a few people.”

Flagstaff Academy hosted an impressive 34-team tournament in early February.

Other robotics coaches include middle school science teacher Boone Starr, Flagstaff Academy network administrator and parent Richard Raehal, fifth-grade teacher Jack Nagle, and middle school gateways to technology teacher Lori Ledbetter.

The entire Flagstaff Academy community has joined in fundraising efforts to help support this educational experience. For those in the community interested, online donations can be made through the Adam Burton Memorial Fund. The money raised will help offset travel, event fees, and other costs for students and staff.