South hosted the VEX Robotics invitational tournament on Jan. 24, bringing 17 teams from across the Chicago suburbs and metropolitan area to compete, Justin Zummo, VEX Robotics Coach, said.
At the tournament, Mundelein High School, Stevenson High School, Oak Park River Forest High School, and North, along with two middle school programs from Dundee Middle School, competed, Zummo explained. Four South teams, composed primarily of sophomores, in the Principles of Engineering course competed for the first time, Zummo said.
“There’s a lot of planning that goes into running the fields and the robots, but everybody was happy with the tournament,” Zummo said.
Students from various schools participated as both competitors and volunteers, helping the matches run smoothly by assisting competitors on the field, junior Emaad Majeed said.
“I have lots of experience with doing the volunteer jobs, so I know how to get everyone to their match on time,” Majeed said, “I enjoy watching the high-level games,” Majeed said.
Junior Olivia Turner coordinated with the robot driver, who codes and controls the robot’s path, Turner said. The position demanded focus and the ability to adapt quickly to unexpected challenges, working to guide gameplay decisions, Turner said.
“During one of our competitions, the robot broke,” Turner said. “However, after the match, the sophomore team and I fixed it and came back to win the next match.”
Experiencing both successes and setbacks is crucial to the program’s experiences of building both technical skills and resilience in the students, Zummo said.
“You’re going to have losses throughout the day, but it’s about how you react and build off the losses to keep getting stronger,” Zummo said.
Even though no South teams won the tournament, student enthusiasm afterward marked the event as a success, Zummo said.
“The win that I will take is that three groups that came up to me at the end and said, ‘I love this now, how can I do more?” Zummo said. “The passion that the groups had will hopefully continue into next year.”
