Local Pride: Ithaca Middle School Robotics Team 639D to Represent ICSD at World Championship

The Ithaca Middle School Robotics Team 639D has qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship. They achieved this after performing well at the New York State VEX IQ Robotics Championship. The team of six ICSD students traveled to Queensbury, N.Y. on March 9 to compete. They won the Robot Skills Challenge, setting a state record for the highest points scored in the category for the year.

The team also received the Excellence Award. This significant award is given to one team that excels in designing, driving, and discussing robot functionality and design. This award, along with their first-place finish, secured their place in the World Championship.

The six students, Timur Urazgildiiev, Henry Schneider, Theo Bewley, Abel Bewley, Sophie Templier, and Jeffrey Zhao, will travel to Dallas, Texas next month. They will compete against the top 400 middle school robotics teams from over 50 countries. This marks the second time an ICSD team has qualified for the World Championship in their seven years of participation in the VEX IQ robotics program.

The VEX IQ is a robotics competition for middle school students. Each year, teams design, build, and code a robot to solve a problem using the engineering design process. This year, 60 ICSD students from Boynton, DeWitt, and Lehman Alternative Community School participated. They formed nine teams, all of which competed in a regional competition in February.

IthacaSTEM Advocates, an affiliate of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI), is helping Team 639D fundraise for the World Championship. The organization is accepting donations to support the team's trip to Dallas.

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