Broward County Public School students earn top scores in national, world robotics competitions

Pembroke Pines Charter High School brought home the “Judges Award” in competition with 820 teams

Silver Palms Elementary School robotics team scores among top 10% of all teams in VEX IQ World Championship, in Dallas, Texas. (Courtesy: Maritza Suarez)

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Several Broward County Public Schools robotics teams put their STEM skills to the test and brought home high marks after national and world championship competitions.

“Competing in the national and world championships is a tremendous accomplishment, and we are so proud of these student teams,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn.

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The students competed in three recent National and World VEX Robotics Championship events and took on hundreds of teams from across the country and around the globe.

The events for elementary, middle and high school students were held in Texas and Iowa:

VEX IQ World Championship, in Dallas, Texas

Highest level of robotics competition for students with more than 400 teams competing from around the world.

  • Manatee Bay Elementary School – Students scored in the top 5% of all teams and won the Think Award, which recognizes the most effective and consistent use of coding techniques and programming design solutions to solve the game challenge.
Manatee Bay Elementary School Robotics team. VEX IQ World Championship, in Dallas, Texas. (Courtesy: Broward County Public Schools)
  • Silver Palms Elementary School – Scored among the top 10% of all teams.
  • Coral Springs Middle School – Scored among the top 12% of all teams.

VEX Robotics U.S. Open CREATE National Competition, held in Council Bluffs, Iowa

National championship with 61 teams competing from across the country.

  • Nova Eisenhower Elementary School – Finished in approximately the top third of all teams competing.

National Championship at VEX World, in Dallas, Texas

World championship with 820 teams competing

Out of all those teams, the only publicly funded High School in Broward County to receive an award was:

  • Pembroke Pines Charter High School’s robotics team known as ‘The Department of Microwave Repair’ (team 50810E) took home the Judges Award in their division. Senior team members have been competing for the last 4 years and have won over 25 awards and participated in the World Championship for 3 years in a row. The seniors are all future engineers and will be attending these universities: MIT, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, UF, UFC and Florida Polytechnic University this upcoming fall.
Pembroke Pines Charter High School's robotics team known as 'The Department of Microwave Repair' (Courtesy: Pembroke Pines Charter High School)

JROTC National Championship at VEX World, in Dallas, Texas

Highest level of competition for JROTC VEX teams, with 136 teams competing from across the country.

  • South Plantation High School (two teams) – scored among the top 12% and 19%.
  • Monarch High School– scored among the top 29%.
  • Deerfield Beach High School – Scored among the top 30%.
  • Dillard 6-12 –Scored among the top 45%.
  • Cypress Bay High School – Scored among the top 46%.

The District’s VEX Robotics teams are supported by the BCPS STEM+ Computer Science Programs, Applied Learning Department. For more information, visit browardschools.com/robotics.


About the Author

Veronica Crespo writes for Local10.com and also oversees the Español section of the website. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism and Spanish.

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