SPS robotics teams to compete at Worlds April 25-May 2 | Schools

The Stillwater Public Schools robotics teams keep growing, thanks to passionate students and educators and a supportive community.

From robotics teams across Stillwater Middle School, Stillwater Junior High School and Stillwater High School, 12 teams qualified for and competed in the Oklahoma VEX Robotics Competition State Championship in March.

That included five teams from Stillwater Middle School (VEX IQ division), five teams from Stillwater Junior High School (VEX division) and two teams from Stillwater High School (VEX division).

The teams competed at the Muskogee Civic Center in Muskogee, where only 24 teams are typically invited per division, said Rebecca Palmatary, STEM educator and robotics coach.

“That’s huge because that’s seven teams out of a possible 48,” Palmatary said. “So, we’re really representing Stillwater well.”

Of the dozen teams who competed at state, five teams will head to the 2024 VEX Robotics World Competition April 25 through May 3 in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.

The teams were recognized at the April SPS Board of Education meeting, where they demonstrated their robots and described their purposes and functions.

SMS robotics teamsFor Leah Dollar, STEM educator and SMS robotics coach, this was the first year to coach full-time – but the results were stellar.

Dollar was named Oklahoma VEX IQ Robotics Education and Competition Teacher of the Year – a nomination by her students.

“I always tell them I’m their ‘robot mom’ because I’m just so proud of (them),” Dollar said. “They take the little things that I know that I’m not very good at and then they make it into these huge, awesome things. I’m in awe of them.”

She said the students work hard at home and at school, and they usually spend lunchtime with her.

“They’re really dedicated and then they’ve grown close friendships, as well,” Dollar said.

She encouraged them to learn team-building skills, in addition to coming “out of their shell” to talk to judges.

The objective of the SMS team’s robot was to pick up blocks, suck them into the robot and score the blocks in goals. The team who picked up the most blocks scored the highest.

Three teams placed in the Top 10 at the state championship, which included robotics teams 18721D RADAR (2nd place), 18721E Taco Table (5th place) and 17821H Blue Iron Tegus (5th place).

SMS robotics team 18721B Alpineers won the state championship and will compete at Worlds. Those teammates include Giovanni Sanchez, Griff Aufleger, Jacob Perez and Landon Rogers.

Dollar said the teams are chosen in May and begin working on robots when school starts in August. She began taking the teams to competitions in December to help the students learn more.

“They’re trying to make their bots better because they’re seeing other people’s bots,” she said. “They can see other, more advanced students.”

Dollar said she gets emotional at events because she’s proud of her students, “and then they’re like, ‘we made Miss Dollar cry again,’” she said.

SJHS and SHS robotics teamsSJHS qualified three robotics teams for the World Competition.

“This is an amazing feat because Oklahoma only has six bids or open spots for Worlds and we are representing 50% of those spots, where we will go up against about 450 teams from across the world,” Palmatary said, who coaches both SJHS and SHS.

The teams had to build a robot that could launch a triball (a ball in the shape of a triangle) across a 12×12 field into upside down “soccer” goal nets with a crossbar in the middle of the net. In the last 30 seconds of the game, the robot climbs a pole to lift vertically off the field.

SJHS robotics team 74074B Anomaly won the Oklahoma VRC VEX state competition as tournament champions and were tournament finalists at TSA State (another league), which qualified them for the VRC VEX World Competition. Those students included Jackson McLain, Kevin Cruz, Isaac Scott, Hunter Scott and Conner Scott.

Last year, they missed winning the state championship by a few points, but came back “with a vengeance,” Palmatary said. They are currently ranked 40th in the world.

SJHS robotics team 74074S Sub-Zero won the Tournament Finalist Award, as well as the Think Award, which qualified them for the VRC VEX World Competition. Team members included Joshua Li, Elina Ji, Caden Ledbetter and Griffin Chaloner.

SJHS robotics team 74074C Caustic earned a high enough score in the skill challenge to qualify them for the World Competition. Students on that team include Barbara Laxton, Dru Bergman, Suhana Bhattacharya, Isaac Franklin, Jeremy He and Addyson Welch-Britton.

SHS is a newcomer to the robotics scene, Palmatary said, as this is their first year with a robotics program.

“We had some kids get older, and they didn’t have a place to go,” Palmatary said. “So, we started a high school program.”

The high school teams like to choose different colors for their robots, and some even have a costume that matches their robot. All of the teams have their own branding, including T-shirts and logos.

Both teams qualified for the Oklahoma VRC VEX State Championship.

SHS robotics team 74074X Nexus won the Energy Award at the state championship and earned Tournament Finalist at TSA State.

SHS robotics team 74074Y Bamboozled won the state championship as Tournament Champions, in addition to being the Robot Skills Champs, which qualified them for Worlds. At TSA State (different league) they won the Excellence Award and were Robot Skills Champs. Those teammates are William Lin, Alex Dosev and Ethan Holm.

“Their true skill score has them currently ranked 29th in the World out of 11,527 teams,” Palmatary said. “At Worlds, they will go up against about 820 teams from across the world.”

All funding for the SPS robotics program comes from fundraisers and local business sponsors. Palmatary frequently sends the teams to participate at community events and school functions.

She said the students’ passion is what keeps the program growing.

“They don’t want to take a summer off,” she said.

Follow the robotics teams on social media at Stillwater Pioneer Robotics.