The Valley Christian High School Robotics team, Valley X, captured the World Championship at the 2015 FIRST FTC Championships. The three-day event held in St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome and America’s Center was the culmination of the robotics season and brought together three separate robotics competitions for the ultimate Sport for the Mind.
Valley X, one of two VCHS Robotics teams this year, captured the Regional/State Championship to advance to the Super Regional competition in Oakland. At the Super Regionals, the team advanced to the finals and finished runner-up, earning a trip to the World Championship competition.
“This is an unprecedented accomplishment for our school,” Valley Christian Principal Dan Kuiper said. “We could not be more proud of what this team accomplished this season. It is a testament to their hard work, teamwork, determination, and resourcefulness.”
This year, there were approximately 3,800 FTC teams competing from North America and numerous countries around the world. Out of those teams, only 128 were invited to the World Championships.
At the competition, the robot competes in a two and half minute challenge. The first 30 seconds are controlled only by the robot, with points being gained for completing tasks successfully. Teams are ranked by their ability to score the highest points, while working with an Alliance Team Member. The teams also undergo judging sessions where they share with officials about how they have worked through the engineering process and spread awareness of what they do in the community, along with how they embrace the concept of “gracious professionalism.”
This was the fifth overall trip to the World Championships for the Valley Christian Robotics team.
Students who participated on the Valley X team this year were: Warren Campbell, James Turensky, David Gasson, AJ Bierly, Michelle Pomerenke, Chape Shiel, Luciano Cappellano, Justin Ree and Wyatt Halchishick. The team is led by Valley Christian faculty member Nick Bacon. Team mentors include Paul Bierly, Bob Gasson, Laurie Rainey and Matthew Rainey.