Three MPISD robotics teams representing Vivian Fowler Elementary and P.E. Wallace Middle School competed in the Regional Texas Youth Robotics Alliance competition on Friday, April 19 at the Region 8 Service Center. The competition featured 16 teams of elementary and middle school students from the surrounding area who all qualified to compete based on their performance at competitions earlier in the season.

At the end of three qualification matches, the top 8 teams advanced to the finals tournament, including Pizza (Jake Jones, Krystopher Castro, Teyten Mettlen, Tana Contreras) from Wallace Middle School as the #1 seed with 2000 points. They were ultimately beaten in the semifinal round by the eventual tournament champions.

The Texas Stars (Carter Cameron, Thatcher Drange, Kael Aleman) from Wallace Middle School placed 9th after prelims, just missing advancing to finals by 15 points. And also competing for MPISD were the Creative Coders (Zuley Banda, Bruno De la Hoya, Damian Martinez, Cristian De La Hoya) from Fowler and Wallace.

Robotics programs give students hands-on experience in applying essential Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) concepts to real-world problems. In MPISD, students in the elementary and middle school Robotics program construct their robots from the ground up, design what they want it to look like, program it to complete certain tasks, and learn to drive it using a remote control.

MPISD currently has robotics teams all four elementary campuses, Wallace Middle School, and Mount Pleasant Junior High. They are coached by Jamie King at the elementary campuses and Tara Flores at Wallace and MPJH.

Photos:

1: Pizza (L to R) Jake Jones, Tana Contreras, Krystopher Castro, and Teyten Mettlen move pieces to score points

2: Bruno De La Hoya (left) moves a game piece on the board as Damian Martinez talks him through the round

3: Carter Cameron (left) leads during the driver-controlled period as Thatcher Drange (center) and Kael Aleman look on

4: Zuley Banda (left) and Cristian De La Hoya discuss strategy before the round begins