In this edition:
At the Santa Cruz Cooperative School (SCCS), Innovation Director Josh Almoite is changing what STEM education looks like. In his second year on campus, Josh is successfully leading an innovation program featuring robotics, drones, and media production. This spring, his two new teams, one elementary school (VEX IQ), and one high school (VEX V5), represented Bolivia for the first time at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas.
“This has always been a dream. To bring a team to the VEX Robotics World Championship felt impossible. But now, here we are.”
–Josh Almoite, Innovation Director, Santa Cruz Cooperative School (SCCS)
The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation proudly offers the VEX V5 Robotics Competition (V5RC) to the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Space Force, and Coast Guard JROTC programs. Cadets and students apply the leadership skills they are developing in their JROTC programs to design, build, modify, and program robots in JROTC invitational events and blended V5RC competitions. Cadet-lead teams compete throughout the VEX V5 Robotics Competition season to attend the JROTC National Championship.
We recently interviewed some of the team members and the coach of the Army JROTC VEX V5 Robotics Competition team 11981A, Apollo, from Steinbrenner High School in Tampa, Florida, to learn more about what makes the JROTC robotics program special.
“One of the things JROTC has helped me with is learning how to deal with failure and how to take it as a positive effect because you can learn so much from failure, more than from a win.”
–Jason, Army JROTC VEX V5 Robotics Competition Team 11981A, Florida, United States
For McKenzie Koch, robotics has never just been about the competitions. It’s about growth, both on and off the competition field, by building skills, communities, and confidence. Now, as a soon-to-be college graduate and dedicated volunteer, she’s using her experience to inspire the next wave of young innovators in Kentucky and beyond. In high school, McKenzie’s passion for robotics helped her team win the 2022 VEX Robotics World Championship, a major accomplishment that proved transformative and sparked her commitment to giving back to the robotics community.
For many students, the Aerial Drone Competition is a natural extension of esports and video gaming by turning a familiar, exciting experience into a fun path of learning and growth. That powerful intersection reaches new heights in partnership with Robolink and their versatile and programmable CoDrone EDU, a drone designed specifically for educational purposes. This hands-on program brings the thrill of virtual gaming into the real world, where students fly drones while building critical STEM skills.
Each competition season, we celebrate the accomplishments of participants in RECF programs. See some of the most recent stories about our teams and events here:
