From Workshop to World Stage: VEX Robotics

This year, Timothy Christian students competed in regional, sectional, state, and national competitions—but only one team advanced to the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas. That honor went to a seventh-grade robotics team made up of Benet Hoogstra, Jackson Brighty, and Andrew Slinkman. After winning the Middle School State Championship, the team qualified for “Worlds”—an impressive feat, especially under the leadership of first-year coach Kimberly McArthur-Self.

McArthur-Self, a high school science teacher at Timothy, had previously worked with middle school students and became interested in robotics through conversations with long-time high school robotics coach Tim Wierenga. For years, Wierenga coached both middle and high school teams. With his encouragement—and her passion for teaching—McArthur-Self stepped in to lead the middle school robotics team this year.

VEX Robotics competitions are unique in that they are organized by a for-profit company, VEX Robotics, which supplies educational robot kits and hosts competitions around the world. Each year, VEX releases a new “game” with specific objectives. This year’s challenge involved placing rings on posts located throughout a playing field.

Robotics isn’t just about programming and engineering—it’s about teamwork.

Teams receive minimal instructions with their kits, which encourages problem-solving, innovation, and collaboration. Much of the robot design process is driven by trial and error—even during competition, where teams frequently perform last-minute adjustments or “out-of-game rebuilds.”

Timothy’s middle school team, assigned the number 4454V, spent most of the season competing in high school-level tournaments. This allowed them to observe advanced strategies and refine their own. They ultimately adopted a defensive strategy, focusing on making it harder for opponents to score rather than maximizing their own points.

Coach Wierenga accompanied the team to Dallas, where they competed against 500 teams from around the world, divided into six divisions. Timothy’s division included 81 teams—and 4454V placed 34th, an admirable result for a first-time team.

Robotics isn’t just about programming and engineering—it’s about teamwork. The boys collaborated on design modifications, strategies, and problem-solving both in and between competitions. At Worlds, they even competed against a team from China. Despite language and cultural differences, the two teams collaborated respectfully—a moment that deeply impacted Wierenga.

“Robotics has a language of its own,” he reflected.

Each of the students finds something unique in the experience. “I like robotics because you get to build something and then make modifications to improve it,” said Benet Hoogstra.

“For me,” added Jackson Brighty, “it’s about solving complex challenges. You really have to analyze each problem.”

The team is already looking ahead. As rising eighth graders, they plan to build their own robot from scratch next year—and hope to qualify for the World Championship once again.