Funds still needed to get teams to Texas
BY Jennifer Liebrum
The Blaine County Bots, Idaho’s first K-12 robotics program has represented the state at national finals competitions numerous times over the last 20 years. This year, for the first time ever, elementary students will represent the Blaine County School District too.
At the Idaho State VEX IQ Robotics Championship, tech teacher Krista Jones’ Bellevue Elementary team won the Elementary Excellence Award, and tech teacher Jeremy Silvis’ Wood River Middle School won the Middle School Excellence Award. Both of these teams will be traveling to Dallas, Texas for the World Robotics International Tournament in May where they will compete separately.
Each team had to create, calculate, diagram, design and build a working robot. The categories the teams were judged on included their teamwork, robot matches against other teams, code programming ability and driving skills.
“The whole team is new to competitive robotics, but they really put their hearts into it,” said Jones, Bellevue Elementary’s coach. “These are amazing kids and their learning, growth and personal drive is impressive. They kept telling me that ‘we’re going to WORLDS! Even when they just barely started in the fall. It makes me so happy that they made it happen!
“The kids have worked incredibly hard all year learning all of the engineering, science, math and coding that it takes to build a working robot, and just as important, the care it takes to grow a working team.”
“I’m grateful for this team and my coach, Ms. J,” shared Bellevue Bear Bella Scout Bower. “My job is programming and that is what I work on all the time. How to drive a robot, how to build some of the robot, how to take notes, photography. I have learned how to build a relationship with my team forever.”
Teammate Harper Wemhaner agreed.
“I have learned so much during Vex IQ to me it’s not just about winning, it’s about having the experience of doing it. My team is the best and my coach Ms. J has done so much.”
Bot Isaiah Torres said he learned perseverance from working with Jones.
“We made many mistakes, but that’s okay because it helped us do better and helped us go to worlds,” he said. “We had some bad times and some good times, but the best times were to hang out.”
Brower’s mom, Tara Bell, added, “I’m incredibly proud of Mrs. J for all of her hard work and dedication, and for giving the kids confidence to dream big and work hard. The kids have worked so hard and they are traveling together as a team. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Jones, a legend in the district for innovative programming for nearly four decades, is retiring this year after 36 years.
“It will be such a wonderful experience for them to not only test themselves against international teams, but to meet and collaborate with other kids from all around the world,” Jones said. “I’m extra super excited that I can share this excitement with them! It’s a fabulous way to end a fun and rewarding career.
Anyone interested in donating to either team can email kjones@blaineschools.org or jsilvis@blaineschools.org to learn more.
