Middle School advances to state robotics event

When the top middle school robotic programs in the state meet this weekend for its annual competition, Wilbraham & Monson Academy will once again be there.

WMA’s Blue Team won first place in the Robot Design category at the FIRST Qualifying Tournament in Springfield on Dec. 6.

“I am very proud to see Ms. (Linxi) Wen and the Blue Team's learning journey get rewarded with a victory and a spot at the state competition,” said Mr. Luke Pelletier, who leads the Robotics program at WMA. “This team and coach were entirely new to Spike Prime programming and the First Lego League environment this season, making their success even more meaningful. Their victory highlights their rapid acquisition of complex skills and exceptional teamwork under new circumstances.”

The Blue Team consisted of Stry Ramirez-McCarthy ’31, Thomas-Enzo Mazzoli ’32, Chance McEvady ’32, Zijie Zheng ’30 and Alasdair Lowery ’32.

The group advanced to the state event, which will be held Saturday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

“I think the reason why (the judges) gave this award to us was due to the uniqueness of our attachments we had made for our robot to complete missions,” explained Chance. “Stry came up with an effective design for our first mission. He had made an attachment that is supposed to knock a lego brush left and right, and then pick the brush up. To do this, we made two arms for the attachment: one has round legos and the other has rubber legos. One of these arms knocks the brush, then both arms clamp together on the lego brush, and pick it up due to the round legos and rubber legos creating friction by clamping together. The hard work really paid off.”

WMA’s Red Team also placed, taking second in the Core Values category. The Red Team included Liam McMahon ’32, Bear Pratt-Buckholz ’32, Emmy Valania ’32, Olivia Salema ’31, Marissa Trimble ’32 and Olarinsola Oladimeji ’30.

“I am very proud of the Red Team for navigating the rigorous, independent judging session to secure a well-deserved second place on the group core value,” Mr. Pelletier said. “They presented their research project, robot design and programming presentations without coaches' presence. This strong finish is a direct result of their teamwork, strong problem-solving skills and ability to present their hard work confidently. The judges wrote, ‘They demonstrated and showed they were all friends and enjoyed each other's company, and engaging with each other.’”