DOWNEY – Warren High School hosted Downey Unified’s second VEX Robotics Competition on Nov. 21, titled "Nothing But Net!" 

Taking place inside the Downey High School gymnasium, the competition featured 24 teams from the middle and high school levels, including teams that traveled form as far as Ventura County. 

The goal of the competition was for an alliance of two robots to work collaboratively to launch foam balls into nets located on the corners of a 12-by-12 ft. arena. The event consisted of five qualifying rounds followed by an elimination round that determined the final winning alliance of robots. 

Downey Unified was represented with seven total teams: three from Stauffer Middle School, three from Warren and one from Downey High. All Downey teams advanced to the elimination round of 16; Stauffer Middle School’s three teams made it through the semi-finals and two of their teams made it into the finals. 

The Striking Vikings team from Downey High finished third overall and Spartan Design Alpha from Stauffer finished fourth overall out of the 24 teams who competed. 

“Overall six Downey Unified teams ranked in the top 16,” said DUSD assistant superintendent Roger Brossmer, who was in attendance that afternoon. “This great success, especially from our middle school students, paves the way for more Downey Unified robotics teams to compete in tournaments like this in the near future.” 

The scrimmage was organized by the Warren High School robotics teams in hopes to continue the trend of hosting robotics tournaments within Downey Unified for years to come. 

Multiple Downey Unified schools are also collaborating to organize VEX Robotics Leagues and be the eventual host for an official state qualifier. Classroom STEM concepts are put to the test on the playing field as students learn lifelong skills in teamwork, leadership, communications and more. 

Tournaments are held year-round at the regional, state, and national levels; local champions go on to compete against the best in the world at the VEX Robotics World Championship each April. 

In addition to having a great time and building robots, through their participation in the VEX Robotics Competition and their work within their team, students learn academic and life skills, better preparing them to be college and career ready, globally competitive and citizens of strong character, DUSD officials said. 

The VEX Robotics Competition, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, is the ultimate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activity for middle and high school students. Each year an engineering challenge is presented in the form of a game. Students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, use the VEX Robotics Design System to build innovative robots designed to score the most points possible in qualification matches, elimination matches and skills challenges. 

The VEX Robotics Design System offers students an exciting platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities spanning in STEM. These are just a few of the many fields students can explore by creating with VEX Robotics technology. 

Beyond science and engineering principles, a VEX Robotics project encourages teamwork, leadership and problem solving among groups. It also allows educators to easily customize projects to meet the level of students’ abilities. 

The VEX platform is expanding and is now found in middle schools, high schools and university labs around the globe.