Westminster Christian Elementary Robotics teams excel at local and state competitions

Westminster Christian Elementary Robotics teams excel at local and state competitions

In less than a year since implementing Project Lead the Way, a STEM project-based learning curriculum, Westminster Christian School’s fifth grade students have racked up numerous awards at local and state competitions.

Westminster’s Warrior Robotics Team won the Design Award at the RoboSLAM Vex IQ Competition and a bid to compete at the State Championship. The Design Award is presented to the team with a thorough engineering journal that captures the robot design, autonomous programming, practice runs, game strategy, and season highlights.

Also, Westminster’s team Warrior Vex IQ won the Stem Research Project Award at the Junior Orange Bowl Vex IQ Tournament and earned a state bid. This award is presented to the team with the most thorough research based on the theme of Technology in Education.

Teams must complete research on the topic, interview experts in the field, create an invention to solve the problem identified, and present the information in a creative format to a panel of judges. Only 30 of the 178 elementary schools participating in Florida earned a state bid.

At the Florida State Elementary School IQ Vex Challenge Championship, Westminster’s team Warrior Robotics earned the Judge’s Award, which is presented to team deserving of special recognition.

As part of the program, students explore the world of robotics by programming robots, strategizing solutions, and problem-solving as part of the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum. Students also hone their presentation skills and build confidence as they overcome challenges and find solutions using the design process utilized both by scientists and engineers. Students can continue to explore their interest in this area in Westminster’s TIDE Center, a new building focused on technology, innovation, design and engineering, slated to open in fall 2017.

WCS teacher Claudia Pastrana coordinates the PLTW program in the elementary school and works with the following students: (Team Warrior Robotics) Cole Woodward, Maia Figueroa, Lex Upton, Sebastian DeVarona, Emma Silva and Leila Hilliard, and (Team Warrior Vex IQ) Hailee Giordano, Luke Glavach, Gia Feanny, Dylan Maier, Logan Chase, Carmani Boozer and Isabelle Vasallo.


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