Get Excited About Robotics, or GEAR, is a program Frenship elementary and middle school campuses compete in each year. Students and coaches prepare for GEAR Robotics events by building robots with the LEGO Mindstorms program and the EV3 robots.
This year’s competition theme is ROBO Park. Students must build and program robots to clean up trash, sort out recycling, build playground equipment, install benches, and plant trees.
At the Frenship GEAR Game Day, teams from all eight Frenship elementary schools and four middle schools were present to compete for the chance to advance to the Championship. Alcove Trails Middle School and Upland Heights Elementary each had one team qualify for the Championship while Willow Bend Elementary had two teams advance.
"We are so proud of our teams and all of the Frenship students in attendance,” said Sandra Dannemiller, the Willow Bend Elementary GEAR sponsor. “They worked hard to construct their robots, tackle the course challenges, and collaborate as a team to be successful! We have been participating since 2017 and have learned so much about the Engineering Design process over the years. It's been a blast working with future engineers!"
In addition to overall placement, teams can earn awards for their creativity, hard work, and individual round results. The Pinnacle Award is given to the team that earned the most points in a single round. To earn a Young Engineer Award students must create a video and explain the engineering process and how it contributed to their robot design.
Elementary Awards
- First Place Overall – Willow Bend Team 6 (Advancing)
- Second Place Overall – Upland Heights Team 4 (Advancing)
- Best Statue - Willow Bend Team 6
- Programming Award – Upland Heights Team 6
- Pinnacle Award – Willow Bend Team 6
- Young Engineer First Place – Crestview 4
- Young Engineer Second Place – Willow Bend Team 2 (Advancing)
Middle School Awards
- Second Place Overall – Alcove Trails Team 3 (Advancing)
- Pinnacle Award – Alcove Trails Team 3
The GEAR Championship will be held on April 20. Good luck!