Darnaby Ranger robotics team wins state honors, earns bid to VEX IQ world championship in Dallas

The Darnaby Ranger robotics team presented to the Union Public Schools Board of Education on a recent meeting night after strong performances at state robotics competitions, and announced that members will attend the VEX IQ World Championship in Dallas.

The presentation, led by Miss Matheson, noted that team members and allied teams advanced through regional tournaments to state. "We've been doing this for 10 years," Matheson said, describing the program as a multi-year pipeline that begins in early elementary grades and builds to state competition. Matheson said another local team, “Wally,” won the robot-skills state championship and that Darnaby won the overall excellence award, which earned a bid to worlds.

Matheson emphasized that the program depends on broad school support and early STEM instruction. She told the board that students begin on the robotics pathway in second grade with Little Bots and progress through noncompetitive and competitive levels: "You don't just show up to fifth grade and become a state champion in robotics. This starts in kindergarten and goes all the way through." Matheson also described the three scoring formats at VEX IQ — teamwork challenge, driving skills and autonomous coding skills — and noted the team’s accomplishments across those areas.

Students from the team introduced themselves and their roles to the board. Students listed on the record included Jess Platon (coder/driver), Anne Montelhorn (coder/driver), Atlas Boy (driver), Evie Hartwig (loader), Xander Bolton (driver), Jacob (encoder), Maundy Shaw (loader) and Evan Blodgett (driver/encoder). Matheson also acknowledged coaches Scott and Bedford and several teachers across the district who support after-school programming and early STEM instruction.

Matheson described the engineering-notebook and interview judging requirements that factor into awards such as the Excellence Award and said the team was surprised and proud to earn the honor and the trip to Dallas. The presentation concluded with recognition of students and a brief video demonstrating the VEX IQ competition format.

The board heard the presentation during the meeting’s information reports section and offered congratulatory remarks to the students and coaches. The team’s next step is participation at the VEX IQ World Championship in Dallas.