West Side Christian School is proud to offer multiple Robotics Teams: a First Lego League Team and a Vex IQ Team. In a First Lego League (FLL), students team together to participate in contests that design, program, and build robots out of Legos to complete tasks and solve problems. Not only does this build skills in programming, problem solving, and design, it is also a great program for students to work together and have fun!
In a Vex IQ team, this is a slightly more advanced, competitive team that uses different materials that can be programmed to sense touch, color, and distance! Teams compete to build and program robots in a game-based challenge. Students have the chance to gain engineering skills and programming abilities that can lead their school to victory!
In January, the WSCS Lego Robotics Team, named the “Crazy Coral Chickens”, competed in the state robotics championship meet! Their first robot run scored 210, a West Side top score! We are so proud of the hard work and dedication from the team and their coaches, Doug Howerzyl and Michelle Terrell.
The WSCS Lego Robotics Team, competing in the state robotics championship meet.
Michelle shares “as a 3rd year coach in First Lego League (FLL) at WSCS I have learned so much personally but know the kids have learned even more. The kids have had opportunities to observe and practice teamwork, professional interactions, and a host of engineering, marketing, and coding skills. One memorable example of skills learned occurred when a 6th grader had to advocate for our team with a referee regarding a score miscount. The 6th grader did an excellent job of kindly declining to sign the score sheet and bringing the discrepancy to the head field referee. In the end, our team’s advocacy changed the scoring outcome for not only our team but for all teams for the remainder of the tournament. It is never easy to advocate for what is right and even more difficult to be an advocate without rupturing relationships. This team member had an opportunity to practice real life skills at a young age and I am hopeful that the courage and successful outcome led to meaningful learning. As a parent I know the value of the experience FLL can provide and the role it can play in our kids future. FLL can lead to future careers in the STEM field!”
We are also proud to have a Vex IQ Robotics Team where students can learn to design, build, and program robots while competing in competitions against other teams! In February, WSCS had 2 elementary Vex IQ Robotics teams participate in a tournament at Grandville Robotics Center that hosted 45 contesting teams!
Our amazing 3rd grade team climbed to a 4th place finish in the Skills Challenges. Congratulations to this talented team, especially since this was their first year of competition!
In February, the 5th grade team also had an incredible day, coming in 1st place and earning the title of Champions of the Tournament! They won the Team Driving Challenge, took 2nd in skills challenges, and earned a state tournament invite! Then, in early March at the State Invite, the this team took 4th place in the State Tournament! They are now the 4th best elementary robotics team in the state!
Congratulations to the 5th grade team of Alex Kauffman, Joey Graybill, Brady Bouwkamp, and Darien Cox and their coach, Micah Graybill, for their championship on behalf of West Side Christian!
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