MMS Robotics Earns Top Honors at Internationals

Season Wrap/Bots/Trophies. Photo courtesy Kumu Kaeo Kawaa.

Community Contributed

By Kumu Kaeo Kawaa

Our Molokai Middle School boys’ team 434K “Kalo Farmers” stepped up and brought home two first place trophies from the VEX International Summer Games on July 10-12 at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Drivers Ilima Ka`awa-Richardson and Kreole Pawn White earned first place for the Robot Skills Champion Award and first place for the Teamwork Champion Award for Molokai.  Drivers Tyreen Tengan-Adolpho and Sherie Kaili from our girls’ team 434M “Menehune Farmers” also co-represented Molokai Middle STEM Robotics at the tournament.

The Robot Skills Champion Award goes to the robot with the highest solo score in the tournament.  Our boys scored 98 points on their first try, and went unchallenged for first place the remainder of the tournament, followed by second place Island Pacific Academy Boys with 71 points.

The Teamwork Champion Award goes to the two-robot alliance with the highest combined score in the tournament.  Our boys scored 138 points for first-place in partnership with Island Pacific Academy Boys, a season-long ally and brother-school.  Our girls scored 93 points for third place in partnership with Island Pacific Academy Girls, also a season-long ally and sister school.

The 2014 VEX International Summer Games featured teams that qualified for the 2014 VEX World Championship in Anaheim back in April, and included almost 100 teams from Hawaii, mainland U.S., China, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Lebanon and Egypt.

Teamwork Champion Award. Photo courtesy Kumu Kaeo Kawaa.

Molokai Middle STEM Robotics wraps up our inaugural season with two first place trophies of Teamwork Champion Award and Excellence Award at the State Championship level for our girls’ team, a top 20 ranking of 17^th Qualifying and 10^th Alliance at the World’s Championship level for both teams, and two first place trophies of Teamwork Champion Award and Robot Skills Champion Award at the International’s level for our boys’ team.

We again express our mahalo and aloha to not only all of our supporters and sponsors of our trip to the World’s Championship in Anaheim back in April, but also to our sponsors of the International Summer Games in July including Jewell K. Kanaha and the late Masami Fukuoka; Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center; and the County of Maui, Maui Economic Development Board, and Ke Ala Hele Education Fund.