Chicago Heights School District 170's Wilson School Robotics Team recently completed its successful season by participating in the 2018 Illinois 4H Robotics Challenge at the Illinois State Fair Grounds in Springfield.
Competing at the challenge's top level against elite Robotics squads from schools across the state Wilson finished 15th out of 42 teams.
Adding to this impressive accomplishment is the fact that Wilson's squad had but one member returning from last year's team and was made up primarily of fifth- and sixth-graders in their first year of programming.
"I am incredibly proud of the diligence and can-do attitude exhibited by all the members of our team," said coach Joseph Frieders.
"In only its third year of competition, our squad continues to improve their performance and impress everyone with their dedication and talent."
Committed to creating a program that best addressed the state competition's theme of environmental health, the Wilson squad's Teshawna Evans and Karma Killingworth designed and decorated the field upon which the robots ran their programmed routes.
"I cannot overemphasize the importance of the experience and leadership that Teshawna and Karma provided for our team," Frieders said.
"Their ability to build, code, and design the field were an integral element in our team's high placing."
The team prepared for the state-level competition at the Cook County Environbot Challenge held last month at Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields.
"At the county competition our team learned first-hand what our strengths were and identified areas that we needed to address if we were to be successful at the state level," Frieders noted.
"Our students did an amazing job at both events while competing against more experienced teams that had competed at tournaments all across the country," said Frieders in praising his young squad's performance.
The Wilson Warriors who competed at this year's state tournament were seventh-graders Teshawna Evans and Karma Killingworth, sixth-graders Javatae McMillian and Anthony Guerrero and fifth-graders Yuleny Santoyo, TeNyah Evans, Alan Boyo, Francisco Antunes, Christian Crosby, and Alonzo Avilla.
The Illinois 4H Robotics Challenge is a sanctioned First Lego League competition.
At the state competition, students demonstrated robot/computer programming (basic, precision and parallel command strings) along with robot designs to accomplish tasks (e.g., use of gears, levers, etc.).
Other areas showcased included field models to perform tasks, sensors used within a computer program to complete tasks, and teamwork strategies to solve problems.
Additional activities and booths at the event related to robotics including science and engineering staffed by STEM professionals, a drone obstacle cage, a Google presentation, and local high school and college robotics teams demonstrating their robots.
Wilson School's Robotics Team works in concert with the University of Illinois Extension and the 4-H Youth Development in a program that integrates the 4-H Robotics Curriculum providing students with the opportunity to engage critical thinking in mathematics, science exploration, and programming skills through robotics.