Thirteen teams across Akron Public Schools have qualified for the Vex Robotics State Tournament. The middle school tournament is March 10, and the high school tournament is March 11-12, 2022. Six teams from STEM High School, five teams from Firestone CLC, and one team each for East and Jennings middle schools will represent Akron Public Schools at the Marion County Fairgrounds for the Vex State Tournaments.
The teams have been competing since October in regular season play to qualify for the tournament. Several teams from STEM and Firestone return with previous state and world experiences while the two middle school teams compete for the first time. All 13 teams are expected to be strong contenders in the competition.
Coaching the robotics teams for the 2021-22 season are Sam Appleby (STEM), Andrew Wallen (Firestone), Tom Ely (East) and Dave Blankenship (Jennings). Akron Public Schools has grown its robotics programs over the past 10 years and is proud to have all of the teams competing ranked in the top 50 Skills ranking in Ohio at their respective age groups. Team 60883D from STEM High School is currently ranked fourth in the world. The livestream link for the event will be posted soon for anyone interested in following the event.
Kudos to David Blankenship and the students of Jennings CLC as they add yet another strong team to robotics competitions. On February 24, Blankenship's team competed in the STEM Vex Robotics Competition and landed the Middle School Excellence Award.
Click here to see the award presentation >>.
This is the highest award presented at a VEX robotics competition. The Jennings CLC Team was recognized as a team that exemplifies an overall excellence in creating a high quality robotics program.
The Ohio VEX Robotics State Championships will be held on Friday, March 11, in Marion, Ohio. Best of luck to Team Jennings!