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Ranney Robotics Holds World Ranking; Hosting Upcoming Competitions

Ranney Robotics continues to hold its 7th World Ranking in VEX Skills nearly 10 days after its early November competition. With a score of 74, Team 3815M, known as “Spitfire” includes sophomore Jiawen (Kevin) Yu, a new international student from China, as the builder/engineer and driver; junior Rylan Foy of Spring Lake as team captain, programmer, and builder; and junior Kangqing (Connie) He, also an international student from China who joined Ranney as a sophomore, as the engineering notebook manager. Her notebook documents the building and designing process of the team’s robot, which can earn skill points through driving (remote controlled) and autonomous (programming) challenges.
 
World rankings (listed on the VEX Robotics website) will change over the course of the season as additional events are held and robots improve their scores (As of Nov. 29, 2016, Ranney's Spitfire team moved to rank #13). Team M not only achieved a world ranking in skills at the local VEX competition on November 6, 2016, but also won the overall local VEX competition featuring 27 robots, including robots from Monmouth County’s vocational school High Tech High, and the Build Award for their solidly built robot.
 
These rankings don’t come easily. “As the driver and builder of the team, I spend about 10 hours on robotics a week, including staying after school to build or practice around the field,” describes Jiawen, who goes by Kevin.
 
But the skills the students are learning along the way are invaluable. Says Kangqing, who goes by Connie, “The opportunity to participate in competitions has enabled me to meet students from all around who are as passionate about robotics as I am. Along this path, I have learned to be flexible and to change strategies at any given time to ensure that our robot is competitive.”
 
Adds Rylan, “I am extremely proud of our accomplishment, and I think it is the pinnacle of our hard work and dedication. Robotics is enjoyable for me personally because it is fun to learn through trial and error while working with my team in a hands-on environment. Through robotics, I have learned skills in engineering, design, programming, and, most importantly, teamwork."
 
Rylan’s parents echoed these sentiments. “In just three short years of being on the Ranney Robotics team, Rylan has gained a tremendous amount of real world skills that will certainly benefit him in the years to come, from the strong culture of student collaboration to the fast-paced problem-solving skills needed during a tight competition,” said Michael and Melissa Foy. “Most importantly, Rylan has developed a true passion for engineering and robotics which he plans on pursuing in college and beyond."
 
As the 2016-17 Robotics season progresses, the M Team’s goal is to remain in the top 50 for skills, so that they can earn automatic qualification for the VEX World Championship, which Ranney Robotics teams have qualified for and attended the past four years in a row. “They are modifying their robot on a weekly basis to remain competitive,” says Program Advisor Chiara Shah, who is part of the MIT Network of Educators in Science and Technology.
 
Ranney’s Robotics program represents a major component of the school’s STEAM curriculum, which also includes a 1:1 Device Program and a computer-science integrated approach, beginning in the elementary grades. For example, Pre-Kindergartners, Kindergartners, and First Graders are using measurement, calculation, strategy and more to program small bee-shaped robots to drive through mazes and number charts, as well as to explore world languages. The teamwork and programming skills they are learning at this young age carry over to Ranney's robotics and coding programs as they enter higher grade levels. All students participate annually in the Hour of Code as well, which will be held this year from December 4-9.

The school has five faculty members trained in VEX and VEX IQ system robotics and four classroom-labs dedicated to the program. Ranney regularly hosts local and state competitions on its Tinton Falls campus. Elementary and Middle School students will battle their VEX IQ robots this Saturday, November 19, and again on Saturday, December 17 for states, while our Upper School students will host a VEX competition after the new year on January 7.

Come out and support our teams! Robotics fans can follow the program on Twitter@RanneyRobots or check out our Robotics webpage at www.ranneyschool.org/robotics.
 
 
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Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
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