Thirty-seven students in the Middle and Upper School robotics teams have been working diligently since September to build and test robots designed to solve a series of challenges. Recently, the teams headed to qualifying competitions where they came away with major accomplishments, with two Middle School teams advancing directly to the championship round! 

The Middle School Robotics Team snagged impressive rankings at the FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Tournament. The theme for this year’s competition is MASTERPIECE, which centers around finding new ways to communicate, collaborate, and experience art. Team 1, Mastermind - Saber’s Version, won 1st Place Overall and Team 2, The SpARTans, won 2nd Place overall. With these top placements, both teams will advance directly to the NYC Championship in March. Team 3, Quackadoodles, received the 1st Place Core Values Award, and will advance to the NYC Semi-Finals, also in March. “These are the most impressive results for our teams to date. We expanded this year to have three teams and all three advanced. It is so encouraging to see our students continuing to deepen their skills and teamwork,” says Jeremy Joven, Computer Science Teacher, who coaches the US Robotics team and co-coaches the MS Robotics team with Jerry Kemper, Upper School Science Teacher.

The Spence Upper School Robotics Team impressed at the FIRST Tech Challenge NYC Qualifier competition. They competed against 25 teams and won eight out of the nine rounds of play, including all elimination rounds, which brought them up against some of the highest-scoring teams. Spence placed first overall in the competition, although ultimately they did not advance to the championship in March. 

Congratulations to the Upper School team on an accomplished season and good luck to the Middle School teams as they advance to their next round of competition in March! 

Cambria I. ’28

Olivia H. ’28

Addison S. ’28 

Sayuri D. ’29

Ahilya J. ’29

Awa S. ’29

Rachel S. ’30

Gigi L. ’30

Hilah S. ’28

Eleanor K. ’28

Indira R. ’28

Daisy W. ’29

Kaila M. ’29

Ceci M. ’29

Ten Ten Y. ’29

Stella C. ’30

Ananya M. ’30

Cora D. ’30

Lucia B. G. ’30

Izzy F. ’30

Irika M. ’30

Mia D. ’30

Sienna V. S.  ’30

Eliza H. ’30

Alyssa Schwartz, ’24 

Shayne Sweet, ’24 

Caroline Schell, ’25

Josie Chan, ’25

Zoe Zhang, ’26

Dinah El-Rayess, ’26

Teddy Golden, ’26

Elle Drayton, ’26

Margot Kaplan,’26

Lila Hilgenberg, ’27

Zola Bartholomew, ’27

Vrinda Wooldridge, ’27

Penelope Chun, ’27