The Morris School Advanced Robotics Team is celebrating a successful effort at the Red River Valley Regional VEX Robotics Tournament held January 24th in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Sixty teams from the U.S. and Canada entered the event.
This is the second school year for the Club, which is led by Technology Teacher, J.P. Jamieson.
"I've done some work with robotics in the past, and I saw the benefits as an extracurricular for students," explained Jamieson. "Because in this tech room we're doing broadcasting and different things, so the students that are inclined in this direction, just tend to spend a lot of time here. When they see a new challenge, that intrigues them and gets them excited to figure out how I'm going to pull this off."
The Club, which started in 2023, has grown from building mini-sumo robots to designing and competing in tournaments with autonomous machines. They began competing late last year and have only picked up steam since their first foray into robotics. They had two teams, and two robots compete at the East Grand Forks event.
“The first tournament was an eye-opener,” said Jamieson in a news release issued ahead of the Red River Valley tournament. “The students learned to adapt on the fly, fixing their robots after the knocks it took in the ring, and collaborating with alliance partners.”
The University of North Dakota (UND) College of Engineering & Mines plays a critical role in facilitating robotics competitions across North Dakota and Minnesota. Its "Tournament in a Trailer" initiative provides equipment and support for VEX events, encouraging STEM engagement and recruitment into engineering fields for students across the region. This effort is part of the College's broader strategy to recruit students into STEM fields, as participants in competitive robotics are significantly more likely to pursue and excel in engineering careers.
“The best part of these tournaments is when things go wrong,” Jamieson added. “The amount of learning and brainstorming that happens as they come up with solutions is just amazing to see.”
The student-designed and built robots came in 30th place in the "two versus two" event and 14th in the Skills division at the East Grand Forks event. Morris Robotics also earned the Judge’s Award at the November Fisher, Minnesota VEX Robotics Competition, and the Design Award at the Grand Forks Frosty Gears Tournament in December.
- With files from Candace Derksen -