COSAM News Articles 2022 January Student teams display robotics, STEM and teamwork skills at 2022 SCORE Showdown

Student teams display robotics, STEM and teamwork skills at 2022 SCORE Showdown

Published: 01/25/2022

On January 18-20, 2022, student robotics teams from across the nation were able to put hours of hard work to the test as they competed in the 2022 SCORE Showdown held at Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, GA. Hosted annually by the Southeastern Center of Robotics Education (SCORE) and in partnership with the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation (REC), the event is a premier VEX robotics tournament where school teams across three age levels – elementary, middle and high school – get to showcase innovative robots that they’ve built by competing in a series of qualifying and final matches.

Teams competed in the VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) or VEX IQ Challenge (VIQC), where students not only got to display their robotics and STEM skills but, through competition, they got to build upon teamwork, critical thinking, project management, problem solving, leadership and communication skills.

Team tables were set up throughout the Great Wolf Lodge conference center while surrounding stations for robotics practice fields, inspections, skills challenges, and queueing were in place to keep teams organized throughout each day. School teams were easy to spot, as students, coaches, and parents wore colorful, matching t-shirts to display their team pride. Digital displays were shown throughout the stations with up-to-date qualification rankings of all teams and upcoming events scrolling on the monitors.

Many volunteers and sponsors contributed to the success of the 2022 event. Katherine Calloway, an HR Generalist in COSAM, and her son Randall, kept teams organized by volunteering at the queueing station at this year’s event. “Randall got to compete in yesterday’s Vex IQ event. Today, our role as queueing volunteers is to ensure that teams are ready for each competition so that there are no delays in the schedule,” said Calloway.

Teams competing in the VEX Robotics high school division spanned the nation, with some traveling from from New Jersey, Tennessee, and Montana. Many regional teams competed in the VEX IQ middle and elementary school divisions.

Corey Harris, a science teacher at Arab Junior High School in Arab, AL, and robotics coach of team AERO (Arab Engineering and Robotics Organization), explained that SCORE Showdown provides his students with an opportunity to improve upon their team’s goals. “Our goals are 1) to connect with other schools and teams, 2) to improve, and 3) to experience team bonding. SCORE Showdown is great because we’ve expanded our teams to include students in 3^rd through 10^th grade and they can all come here to compete together,” said Harris.

Harris, a 2013 graduate of Auburn University’s Secondary Science Education program, started teaching science and robotics in Smiths Station and Opelika before moving back home to Arab. “We are excited that students in Arab City Schools have opportunities in robotics education and get to compete at events like SCORE Showdown. We continue to expand more offerings and are looking to add drone competitions next for our team.”

The Tritt United Robotics team from Tritt Elementary School in Marietta, GA, accompanied by technology lab teacher Courtney Pascual and science lab teacher Joey Giunta, competed in this year’s event for the first time. “What I’ve enjoyed most about competing at SCORE Showdown is the camaraderie that’s been formed among teams,” said Pascual.

Students representing team GL Robotics and team Trojans from Chickamauga Elementary School made the trip from Chickamauga, GA, to also compete for the first time at SCORE Showdown. “My favorite thing to do during the competition is to drive,” said Juliana Riddle, a 5^th grade robotics team member. Third grader Colby Stults agreed and added, “I like to drive and program. We’ve watched several videos on YouTube to help prepare us for competition.”

Matt Buckley, Program Administrator at SCORE and head event organizer, said, “As a K-12 outreach program with the mission of helping incorporate robotics into classrooms throughout the southeast, it is a natural extension of our mission to host an event to bring together 120 robotics teams from around the country. Over the course of three days, we hosted teams from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Montana, and California. Bringing these teams together has helped them form ties with each other, to expand their understanding of what robotics can do for them, and what they can do with robotics.”

With team representation from across the nation - many as first-year attendees – these student innovators will return home with competition experience, team-building skills, new team connections, and a willingness to return and compete in next year’s showdown.