VEX Robotics Program at WCS

Walking into Westbury Christian School’s robotics classroom, the raucous noise of metal components being drilled through can be heard, combined with the whirring sound of motors as robots are driven around. The chaos of VEX robotics has always been an overwhelming yet compelling experience for our high school robotics teams.

Over a decade, WCS has actively participated in the VEX Robotics competition, a program which encourages teams to create robots that can counter specific challenges and to compete against each other. Colleen Leeson, the WCS STEM director, has successfully led her students through three VEX world championships and six national championships.

This season, 1815 Freedom is our only registered high school team, yet it is a considerably large one with a total of twelve students involved. For the past few months, the team has been diligently constructing a robot capable of necessary functions, primarily launching objects, for the game “Over Under.'' With the advantage of more people in the brainstorming process, core responsibilities such as coding, building and documenting were effectively divided among members so that every student made a contribution.

While awaiting the upcoming regional competition that 1815 F has qualified for, team leader Luke Dewberry is devising a unique design wherein a single flywheel mechanism executes three essential tasks: accumulating tri-balls scattered on the field, launching tri-balls into goals, and lifting the entire robot onto an elevation bar. Hopefully, through this design, the team will be able to win the Innovate or Create award, both of which are given to teams recognized for their novel and creative approaches to problems.

One current team member describes VEX by stating, “People often focus on the one robot at the competition, but a lot of things happened behind the scenes. Physics principles, calculus, art, coding, failures, frustration, staying at school till midnight. There’s just so many aspects to this program.”

“We learn as we go. I’m not an expert at this either. I only knew enough programming and building to start a robotics class. The initial robot designs were quite simple, but it’s amazing to see how much this program has grown over the years,” said Mrs. Leeson.

Mrs. Leeson’s careful guidance and students’ commitment have fueled the advancements our teams made in the past, and will possibly lead to greater achievements in the future.