The Grand View Elementary Robotics Team, known as the DJB-Bots, consisting of fifth-graders – Althea Manka, Kayle Nunjar, and Joe Versoi – competed in the World VEX Robotics Competition, in Dallas, Texas from May 1-3.
This season was Kendra Versoi’s first year as the robotics coach for Grand View elementary. With her background as a high school robotics coach, Versoi applied her experience to help guide and support the younger students. This involved starting with the fundamentals, constructing a foundation through the construction of a clawbot, followed by iterative improvements – a method that proved instrumental for the third-grade teams new to robotics. Meanwhile, the more experienced teams embarked on a path of innovation, sketching different designs and then building various prototypes to determine which would be most effective.
“After the first competition, all three teams that made it to state decided to make modifications to their robot. They learned new design ideas from the first competition,” said Versoi. “By the time our third tournament came, all six teams were focusing on improving their scores, and they really started to work on driving and coding.” In anticipation of the world competition, students dedicated additional time, often staying late on practice days and meeting on Saturday mornings, to enhance their coding and driving skills.
The preparation for the World Competition was a rewarding experience for both the students and Versoi, who spent countless hours building, fine-tuning, driving, and coding their robots. “The teams’ resilience and willingness to learn from each other and their mistakes set them apart in order to make progress through the competitions,” explains Versoi.
The support and camaraderie among the three students played an important role in their success. “We always try to talk about what we can do next time and what we need to improve on,” shared Althea. Joe emphasized the importance of clear communication with each other, saying, “When we’re in a difficult match, it’s important that we stay focused and that we talk to each other about what needs to be done.”
As the DJB-Bots reflect on their accomplishments, they eagerly anticipate what lies ahead “Joining robotics in middle school is definitely something we want to do. I’ve had so much fun here at Grand View; I can’t wait for next year,” shared Kayle.