What team at Timothy has the longest season, competes in local competitions against club teams and school teams, competed in the state tournament and competed in a national tournament that also included teams from foreign countries?

The answer is the Timothy Robotics team!

The Robotics team's competitive season kicks off in September and wraps up in late March, spanning over spring break and encompassing a series of contests. Their victory in a tournament in Mt. Vernon secured their spot in the state tournament, where they impressively ranked 22nd out of 55 teams. Additionally, they took part in the prestigious Create U.S. Open, competing against teams from across the U.S. and from countries like China, New Zealand, and Kazakhstan, ultimately finishing 12th out of 43 teams in their division.

Robotics competitions are organized by VEX Robotics, a for-profit company that focuses on educational robotics to promote science, engineering, creativity, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Teams and clubs purchase robot kits designed for that year's competition from VEX, starting with a basic kit and evolving their robots through a process of trial, error, and continuous modification, often making significant adjustments even during competitions.

Teams begin assembling robots, which come with minimal instructions, in September. In many ways, the assembling of the robots relies heavily on the trial and error method. In that process, the teams make modifications and adjustments to help the robots perform better. This takes place even during competitions when players make “out-of-game rebuilds.”

When you buy your robots from VEX they assign your team a number and a letter as your identifier. Timothy’s most successful team was 4454B which was made up of five seniors who had 1-4 years of experience on the Robotics team. Every member of the team is planning to major in some form of engineering in college. “I like to work with my hands and I am interested in engineering, which is why I have been doing this for four years,” said team member David La Barbera. 

Each year, VEX designs a new "game" for the competition, with last year’s game resembling Frisbee golf and this year's akin to soccer with additional obstacles. The first 15 seconds of each two-minute game are autonomous, followed by player-controlled action using video game-style controllers. Robotics team member Theo Veldman likes the freedom you have in robotics to make your own decisions in competition during the games and between sessions. 

Math teacher Mr. Tim Wierenga has been the robotics team coach for seven years. “I love coaching robotics because of all the lessons participants can learn. Those lessons include the collaboration, the unique aspect of sportsmanship where you are sharing design ideas, parts, and strategies with your opponents during competition, and what you can learn about computer programming. Players also learn about the importance of humility. You have to own your mistakes and adjust, and sometimes you fail with your adjustments.”

It’s a long season, but rewarding for the competitors beyond their success.