A group of students from Falfurrias Junior High School has proven that age is just a number when it comes to robotics competitions.
The Jersey Robotics team, made up of four middle school students, recently competed at the World Championships, facing off against high school teams from around the globe.
"Communication is key. With everything you have to communicate with your fellow teammates or partners," said Marcus Pena, team captain.
When Pena first joined the robotics team, he thought it had to do with welding. Despite the initial confusion, he stuck with it, even when the team faced challenges.
"We didn't know if we were going to make it with our robot because of the bigger robots," Pena said.
The team, consisting of two boys and two girls, focused on beating high school students at the World Championships. Urijah Vargas, who serves as the robot pilot and scout, explained their approach.
"You have to use way more of your brain to think of other stuff. Think of other ways to do it. To fix the robot, think of different strategies," Vargas said.
The group persevered even when their robot wasn't working properly.
"We had to face multiple challenges throughout this experience. And, some of them made us if-y about it and some of them we were very happy about," Pena said.
The Jersey Robotics team ranked 59th in their division, which included more than 500 teams from 33 different countries.
"And going all the way to worlds, is a huge accomplishment. These kids did so much in such a small amount of time," said Kurt Mann, robotics teacher and sponsor.
Mann was amazed that his young team made it to the World Championships in their first year of competition. He's already planning to get the students involved with more robotics activities, including Lego robotics.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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