By Dionne Meehan
A GROUP of pupils from Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Letterkenny have qualified for the World VEX Robotics Championships in Dallas, Texas this May.
The team, consisting of two boys and five girls from fifth and sixth class, recently triumphed at the All-Ireland Finals in Cork and their prize is a trip to the World Championships in Dallas.
The competition involved the pupils working collaboratively, designing and building their own robot and then programming their robot to play a game, which involved collecting and throwing balls into a specific area of the arena.
With VEX Robotics only being introduced at the school less than two years ago, it is safe to say the children have really excelled in that time.
In 2023, the future of STEM at Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál transformed when ATU Donegal’s Gary Cullen and John Conaghan visited the school.
During their visit, they introduced VEX Robotics to the school’s digital learning team, Ms Anne Gillespie and Mr Lorcan Heavey, who immediately recognised its similarities to the new school curriculum.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Mr Heavey explained that the new curriculum primarily emphasises problem-solving through strategic thinking, much like VEX Robotics.
“With these robots, students are being faced with problems that they have to solve on the spot,” he said.
“For example, if something breaks down, they have to work together to fix it.
“They write code, which is very logical and they have to follow it step by step.
“If the robot doesn’t do what they want it to do, they have to problem-solve, figure out where their code is wrong and change it.
“If they change the code, they have to see what effect that has on the robot.”
Last year, the team was fortunate enough to secure sponsorship from Zeus, enabling them to purchase their first arena and compete in their first VEX competition organised by ATU Donegal.
“When we went to the ATU to compete last year, we ended up getting the top score in the coding section of the competition,” Mr Heavey said.
And since, the team’s success has been going from strength to strength.
With anticipation growing for the World VEX Robotics Championships, Mr Heavey said his pupils are eagerly looking forward to the event.
“It is a great opportunity for them to go over and compete on a global level,” he said.
However, with the world championships taking place from May 10 to 15, time is quickly running out to raise funds to get these talented young innovators to Texas.
Launching a fundraising campaign to do just that, the school is reaching out to members of the Letterkenny community for support.
With the help of families, past pupils, friends and local businesses, they are confident they can make the finalists’ dreams a reality.
If you wish to make a donation you can do so via: https://hub.klubfunder.com/ScoilMhuireGanSmalNS/payit/donation/scoil-mhuire-gan-smal–letterkenny-vex-robotics-team-to-texas/detail
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