BAYVILLE – The Central Regional High School JROTC Robotics Team earned national recognition after receiving the Inspire Award at the VEX Robotics World Championship, held in Dallas, Texas.
Competing among 150 JROTC teams from across the country, the Bayville-based team was honored for its passion, positivity, and sportsmanship throughout the event. The Inspire Award is presented to teams that demonstrate enthusiasm, integrity, goodwill, and strong communication and teamwork.
“They win as a team and help to support each other no matter what bot they are working on,” said Angie Mares, who co-coaches the team with her husband, CRHS JROTC Senior Instructor Steven Mares. “It is due to this camaraderie and teamwork that they received the Inspire Award while they were in Texas. They inspired other teams by cheering for them, talking to them, and strategizing with them.”
The CRHS team qualified for the World Championship by winning the Design Award at the Roosevelt High School JROTC Robotics Competition in March in Roosevelt, N.Y. That award is given to teams excelling in judged areas such as team interviews, engineering notebooks, and competition performance.
Their robot “Black Hole” was the team’s sole entry to qualify for the championship, but students from the team’s other bots, “Asteroid” and “Cosmo,” played a key role in supporting the effort.
Each year, VEX Robotics presents teams with new challenges requiring innovative robot design and engineering. Qualifying teams advance to the World Championship through a series of local and regional competitions.
The team’s trip to Dallas was made possible through support from the United States Army, Central Regional School District, VFW Post 9503 in Bayville, and the CRHS JROTC program.
