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TUSD spotlights robotics program as teams, mentors and facilities push students to VEX World
Summary
Tustin Unified highlighted its 12-year robotics program, recognizing coaches and students for state and international qualifications, presenting a demo and announcing STEM lab upgrades and a lifetime achievement award for longtime coach Jeff Farr.
The Tustin Unified School District on Tuesday showcased its robotics and STEM programs, lauding students, coaches and mentors for a run of competitive successes and announcing facility upgrades.
Superintendent Dr. Johnson and Robotics & STEM TOSA Megan Lund described a program that the district says reached 650 students across 106 district teams this year, with 85 teams competing in official VEX events and 16 teams headed to the VEX World Championship. Lund highlighted student pathways from elementary VEX IQ to high-school VEX V5 and presented a live Rapid Relay demo by two Hicks Canyon elementary teams.
The district cited several program milestones: elementary teams from Hicks Canyon advanced with four teams to the world championship and won multiple online challenges; Beckman High’s autonomous skills run scored 54 and ranked among top global scores; and longtime coach Jeff Farr was honored with a TUSD Robotics Lifetime Achievement Award for a 12-season career credited in the presentation with 2,934 coached matches, more than 300 students coached, 205 trophies, 52 teams coached, 38 teams advancing to state championship and 20 qualifying for VEX Worlds.
Lund framed robotics as a Career Technical Education pathway: students learn engineering, coding (including PID control concepts), mentorship, and problem solving across grade levels. The presentation included renderings and updates on two facility projects: Columbus Tustin STEM lab work planned for this summer and construction underway on Towson High School’s TTEC lab.
The program drew praise from board members and district staff, who emphasized the role of community partners and volunteers. The board’s recognition closed with best wishes for teams headed to national competition and an acknowledgment of the coaches and mentors credited with preparing students for higher-level technical challenges.
The board took no formal action related to the presentation; it moved later in the agenda to separate resolutions and consent items.
