Some of Algoma's brightest young minds gathered in the Sault Saturday, as the Algoma District School Board held its VEX Robotics Competition.
This was the first time the event has been held since 2019; the extended hiatus was a result of the pandemic.
Teddy Telfer, a grade 6 student, told CTV News he was thrilled that the competition was back this year.
“I just find this competition is something that I can work at and something I enjoy.”
Teams travelled from as far east as Thessalon for the event at Sault College, which saw 17 teams compete.
Rider Gareau from Thessalon Public School was among those competing.
Gareau said all of the teams had about four months to build their robots and work out the kinks before the competition.
“When we were building our robot we had a lot of trial and error, but it was really fun,” he said.
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Mark Carlucci, the robotics coordinator for the Algoma District School Board, said that “trial and error” learning approach is key to what they're doing.
“Our coaches are there to guide them, but we don’t do the building, we don’t tell them what to do, it’s all student decisions. So they try things out, make mistakes, fail, try again until they succeed,” said Carlucci.
The competition saw dozens of children from grades three to eight putting their problem solving skills to the test.
Because of the extended hiatus, almost all of the attendees were new to the event said Carlucci.
“We get some of these kids that are in grade three and four, they’re going to have four and five years of competition,” he said.
“The growth that you’ll see over those years is exponential.”
Among the first-timers was Jax Badgero, who said he enjoyed being around his like-minded peers.
“It’s kind of fun meeting new people,” Badgero.
The winners will head to Brampton at month's end for the next round of competition.
Most youngsters told CTV News that no matter how they fare, they know this is something they want to do again.
“I’m definitely going to come back to robotics because, well, it’s just fun and it teaches me a lot,” said Ethan LaFortune.
