On Sunday, March 3rd the Spartan Robotics Team named Beast 2.0 consisting of St. Joseph School fifth graders Siddarth Ganesh and Lothith Kommu teamed with team O.I.B.I from Neenah, Wisconsin to win the Wisconsin VEX IQ Elementary level State Championship held in Green Bay, WI.  Their victory also earned them a spot in the 2024  Worlds competition in Dallas, Texas in early May.  In this year’s game “Full Volume”, teams of 2-4 students design, program, and test robots that can collect and sort various colored blocks for scoring in one of three goal areas.  At the end of each match, teams were challenged to park their robot in a designated zone on the field.  Between matches, teams were judged on their robot design process and design journals by a team of professionals and robot enthusiasts.  Additionally, student teams participated in the skills challenge attempting to score the most points in a one-minute autonomous program and an additional one-minute driver-controlled program.  Team Beast 2.0 also was crowned the tournament Skills Champion at the state tournament, out scoring 35 other elementary robots.  Spartan Robotics mentor Jeremy “Pete” Peterson remarked “We are so excited Sid and Lothith’s team to have the opportunity to represent  St. Joseph School and our Rice Lake Community at Worlds this year.  It is amazing to see how far Spartan Robotics has come in just two years of competing thanks to the hard work of the students and a group of tremendous parent volunteers who are working with the students.” 

All four Spartan robotics teams competed at state, each finding great success.  Team Ctrl-Z consisting of St. Joseph fifth graders Jacob Charron and Michael Peterson were awarded the Think Award at the tournament for superior programming and systematic thinking approaches to robot design.  They finished seventh overall in the Skills competition and sixth in the Teamwork event.  Making their first appearance at the state tournament, Team Triple-Threat formed by fourth graders Max Delf, Eli Helgeson, and Zach Haughian placed 3rd overall in the Team Work Challenge posting one of the highest scores at the event. Team The Never Ending Girls with competing 3rd graders Elise Labonte and Lucy Peterson finished in 15th place overall at the event.  

Mentor Jeremy “Pete” Peterson commented, “As robotics in our area continues to grow, we are looking for ways to engage more of the community.  Parents and community members in local schools, homeschool organizations, or through other venues interested in getting involved with VEX IQ 3rd through 8th grades should reach out to me about how we can begin running a VEX IQ league in our area next year.  As more teams like Beast 2.0 qualify for prestigious events, we are also looking for financial sponsors to help cover registration fees and travel associated with these experiences.” 

Pete Peterson

petersonje@ricelake.k12.wi.us