Glen Springs Elementary School is seeking donations to fund trip to robotics championship
The Robotics Club from Glen Springs Elementary School is asking the community to help sponsor its trip to compete in the Robotics World Championship.
“We found out last week that two of our school’s teams have qualified for the Robotics World Championship in Dallas this May,” said Jon Pilgrim, who has two daughters attending Glen Springs, one of whom is in the fifth-grade and is a member of one of the teams going to the competition.
Donations can be made to a GoFundMe site at https://bit.ly/40gEwSA and during a fundraiser to be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in front of the Hunter’s Crossing Publix at 5200 NW 43rd St.
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“Right now, we're trying to raise money to cover the entry fee of $2,400 ($1,200 per team) that's due on Friday,” Pilgrim said.
This is the fourth year of the school’s robotics teams, and the teams that made it to the world championship competition is comprised of only fifth-graders, but the entire club is made up of students in grades 3-5, Pilgrim said.
The teams qualified to participate in the world championship by ranking high enough in the team Programing (Coding)/Skills Driving at the North/Central Regional State Tournament held on March 11th in Clermont, said Jeanne Diehl, a math and science teacher at Glen Springs who also serves as the robotics coach.
“We took four teams to the state competition and three got an invitation to the VEX IQ Slapshot World Championship held in Dallas May 2nd-4th,” Diehl wrote in an email.
The schools that have qualified for worlds so far are Lincoln, Westwood, Oak View and Howard Bishop Middle schools, and Wiles Elementary School, said Jackie Johnson, spokeswoman for Alachua County Public Schools.
“It's possible some other schools may qualify based on their performance in other competitions between now and then,” Johnson said.
Throughout the competitive season the students built about three different robots to get to the one that they feel is the best for them. They practice driving and coding the robots to be able to obtain higher scores. On top of that, they need to record in a team journal to document any time they work on their bot, Diehl said.
“At tournaments they are interviewed by judges on the work in their journals,” Diehl said. “We are super proud of our club members. What they have accomplished this year is amazing. The confidence that they gain by their success is a confidence that will help them through their years in school.”
Diehl credits the success of the teams to her help from volunteer assistant coaches Jason Von Meding and Mark Diehl, her husband, and the support the club receives from the school’s administration led by Principal Ricky Bell and Assistant Principal Mary Zinger.
She also said her club receives help from the other Robotics Clubs in elementary and middle schools throughout Alachua County.
Pilgrim said the students in the club learn more than robotics by being in the club, he said they also learn unselfishness and other valuable life lessons.
“I can personally attest that I’ve seen the kids at these competitions go out of their way to help out opposing teams with a problem without a second thought of how it might affect the outcome of the match,” Pilgrim said.
He also said it will be great to see the students continue their work at the world championship.
“What these kids have accomplished so far is nothing short of amazing and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them,” Pilgrim said. “Any help that the community could offer would be greatly appreciated.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Robotics championship in Dallas to include several Gainesville schools
