Olmito Elementary Wins Robotics Top Award

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

Olmito Elementary took two of the top three places in the elementary division of the District Robotics Competition Saturday at the Resaca Middle School Gymnasium.

The victory by the Robo Scorpions of Olmito ended a four-year winning streak by Laureles Elementary. Members of the team were Christian Davila, Robert Mora and Sebastian Salcedo. Teacher-coaches were Manuela Mata and Ida Garcia.

Teams had been practicing for this event since the start of the school year.

There were 29 teams from the nine Los Fresnos CISD elementary schools in the elementary division. Ten teams came from the district’s three middle schools, with four teams represented from Los Fresnos High School and Los Fresnos United.

The district competition is a preliminary meet for the Texas Computer Educators Association (TCEA) Area Competition, scheduled Jan. 13, 2018, at Edinburg Vela High School.

Other teams receiving trophies were:
Elementary Division

• 2nd Place: Lopez-Riggins Elementary, Team Snorlax – Vanessa Diaz, Christopher Hernandez, Jose Hernandez and Carlos Rodriguez. Coaches were Gabriel Barreto and Brenda Melendez.
• 3rd Place: Olmito Elementary, Dabbing Turtles – Joaquin Alvarado, Trey Garcia, Ricardo Hinojosa, and Nathan Vasquez.

Middle School Division

• 1st Place: Resaca Middle School, Golden Eagles – Anthony Lippa, Alex Vatchev, Jose Perez, Leo Arevalo.
• 2nd Place: Los Cuates Middle School, Spider Pigs – Marcus Gutierrez, Jose Rodriguez, Eddie Salazar, Andres Trejo
• 3rd Place: Resaca Middle School, The Crusaders – Lot Atkinson, Sabian Cardenas, Aaron Cavasos, Abelardo Limon

High School Division

• 1st Place: Los Fresnos High School, Team Ctrl-Alt-Defeat – Jose Alcantara, Luke Hostetter, Victoria Saenz
• 2nd Place: Los Fresnos United, No Luck Required – Andrea Garcia, Jakob Medina, William Flores, Diego Warrell
• 3rd Place: Los Fresnos United, Iron Tether – Daniel Torres, Hector Salcedo Jr., Carlos Hernandez

This year’s competition is titled “Mastering Mars” and is designed around the theme of preparing an environment of Mars that is ready for human settlement and iron mining.

The 2017-18 TCEA Mindstorms Robotics Challenge is based on the LEGO brand Mindstorms robotics platform. The TCEA’s mission is to improve teaching and learning through the use computers and technology.