ROBOT, RINSE AND REPEAT

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February 28, 2023

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

The VEX robotics state tournaments, which now are in full swing with four separate championships for different age groups, feature Notre Dame Prep teams in all four divisions.
 

Last Sunday, the Michigan high school VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) state championship was held at Kettering University in Flint. Notre Dame Prep fielded two teams and both advanced to the VRC World Championship, which will take place in Dallas in late April. 

"Congratulations to Team 3333J, 'Slightly Hostile Bees,' consisting of 11th graders Henry Wilson, Beck Silver, Jose Turrubiartes and Jeffrey Guo, as well as Team 3333W, 'Power of the Square,' Brooklyn Haddad (10th), Dino Acciavatti (9th) and Kevin Carter (9th)," said NDP robotics team mentor Jerry Palardy.

The VRC game this year is played on a 12’x12’ square field and two alliances – one “red” and one “blue,” comprised of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a 15-second autonomous period followed by a one-minute, forty-five second driver-controlled period. 

Palardy said Team 3333J had some bad luck in the qualification rounds when in the majority of their matches, their partner deployed an "end-game" strategy early in the match, which caused the alliance to to be disqualified. 

"But 3333W had the luck of the Irish on their side for most of the day," he said, "and advanced to the quarterfinals," Palardy added.

"Wild card" bids to the world championship are given to the teams with the best "skills" scores, according to Palardy, and skills scores are based on how the robot performs by itself, including autonomous (self driving). 

"Fortunately, NDP has good programmers and drivers, and both teams received wild card bids," he said. "Jeffrey Guo and Brooklyn Haddad are the programmers for teams 3333J and 3333W, and Jose Turrubiartes and Dino Acciavatti are the drivers for those teams." 

This coming Saturday, Mar. 4, is the VRC middle school state championship for students aged 15 and younger. It will be held in Monroe and Notre Dame Prep will have three teams competing.

On Saturday, Mar. 11, the VEX IQ elementary state championship will be held for students 12 and younger. It also will be hosted in Monroe and NDP will have one team attending.

Sunday, Mar. 12, is the VEX IQ middle school state championship, which also will be in Monroe. Notre Dame Prep will have one team participating.

Good luck to all of our teams!

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.

About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.