Hawaii VEX IQ Championships qualifies 18 robotics teams for World event in Dallas, TX

(Issued by Hawaii Space Grant Consortium)

Release Date: 2/6/2023

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VEX IQ - Robotics Skills Champions

HONOLULU, Feb. 6, 2023 – Sponsored by Hawaiian Electric, the Hawaii VEX IQ Robotics Elementary and Middle School State Championships, held on January 28 at Hanalani Schools and February 4 at University of Hawaii at Hilo, qualified 18 out of 67 Hawaii VEX robotics teams that will advance to the 2023 VEX Robotics World Championships.

Hawaii elementary and middle school robotics teams will showcase their game strategy, design and teamwork skills for an opportunity to be crowned world champions at the global event to be held April 25 to May 4 in Dallas, Texas.

Advancing from Oahu are Haleiwa Elementary School (1 team), Hawaii Girl Power (1 team), Manoa Elementary School (3 teams), Ewa Makai Middle School (1 team), and Silver Tigers (1 team).

A team from Kalama Intermediate School in Makawao, Maui; Kaunakakai Elementary School on Molokai; and a team from Waiakea Intermediate School, Hilo Intermediate School, and Haili Christian School in Hilo also qualified to participate in the VEX Worlds.

At the elementary school competition, Kaunakakai Elementary’s Molokai All-Stars team earned the VEX IQ Excellence Award, while Haleiwa Elementary captured the Teamwork Champion, Robot Skills Champion and Amaze awards. Manoa Elementary won the Teamwork 2nd Place, Design, Innovate and Think awards.

At the middle school competition, Kalama Intermediate earned the VEX IQ Excellence and Robot Skills Champion awards and shared the Teamwork Champion with Ewa Makai Middle School, which also won the Innovate Award.

The double and triple qualifications by these teams will allow six other Hawaii teams – to be determined by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation – to advance to the VEX Worlds.

For a complete list of team standings at the Hawaii VEX Robotics State Championships, visit:

Hawaiian Electric, Justin De Lizo of Hanalani Schools, University of Hawaii at Hilo, and Gayle Kamei and Jon Kitagawa of Waiakea Intermediate School were named “Partners of the Year” for their longstanding support and partnership with Hawaii VEX Robotics.

Volunteer of the Year honor was awarded to Brandon Teshima and the students of Kamehameha Schools – Kapalama. Teshima and his students filled key volunteer roles at multiple VEX IQ tournaments across Oahu.

Mentor of the Year was awarded to Ms. Andrea Reyes of Gustav Webling Elementary School and Kumu Kaimi Nahale-a from Hilo Intermediate School for their dedication and support to their students this season.

VEX Robotics is an educational robotics program that inspires students to excel in STEM principles while encouraging creativity, teamwork, leadership and problem solving among groups. This season there were 250 registered teams from Hawaii and over 900 students.

Robotics competitions foster these skills and prepare students to become future innovators as well as increase their interest in pursuing STEM careers. Tournaments are held year-round at the regional, state and national levels, and culminate in the VEX Robotics World Championship. There are approximately 20,000 teams from 45 countries participating in VEX tournaments.

Locally, the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium (HSGC) oversees the Hawaii VEX Robotics Competitions with funding through the University of Hawaii Foundation. Expanded opportunities for space education through the efforts of the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium have been focused on the public, particularly teachers and students in grades kindergarten through twelve. HSGC offers various remote and in-person trainings and workshops for coaches, teachers, and students, developing a robotics curriculum for STEM/robotics classes, and mentored teachers and students in rookie robotics programs.