A group of Sawnee Elementary School students won at the Georgia VEX IQ state competition held at North Forsyth High School on Saturday, March 4, securing their spot in the 2023 VEX World Championship in Texas.

Several teams made up of 3 students each from Sawnee made it into the state competition earlier this month, having the opportunity to show off their coding and teamwork skills. During VEX IQ competitions, students must create, build, program and drive a robot on a field and complete missions to earn points.

But the robot is only one aspect of the competition. Each team must also submit an engineering notebook and participate in interviews with judges.

“The robotics program helps prepare students for life after the classroom by teaching real world skills and application of academic lessons,” Sawnee Elementary states on its website.

At the end of the state competition, two of Sawnee’s teams made it out on top, with Team Gorgeous Group winning the Innovate Award and Team Roboshot winning the Design Award.

These designations secured both teams’ spot at the VEX World Championship, sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation, where the best teams from across the country and around the world compete to earn the world title.

Sawnee won’t be the only school from Forsyth County represented in the competition in May. A team from Silver City Elementary, the Thunderbolts, and two teams from Daves Creek, Dynamic Dolphin Bots, also secured spots in the world competition.

“Teamwork, problem-solving and ingenuity are all on display at a VEX IQ Competition event, and students develop these skills all year long by participating on a robotics team,” said Dan Mantz, CEO of the REC Foundation. “Together, with the support of educators, coaches, and mentors, we’re fostering students’ passion for STEM at a young age to ensure that we have a generation that is dedicated to creating new discoveries and tackling life’s future challenges.”

For more information about the teams and event, roboticseducation.org.