On May 18, 2012, seventeen White Oak 5th graders, accompanied by teachers Nina Peery and Mary Underwood, traveled to LeTourneau University for the Region 7 ESC Robotics Competition. This was the first year for White Oak Intermediate students to compete using the Lego Mindstorm NXT Robotics kits. The competition was called Summer Botlymipcs and was fashioned after the Summer Olympic games. There were two competition boards. One board represented the marathon. Teams programmed their robots to follow a black line using the light sensor. Points were awarded for the number of times their robot completed each quarter circle in one minute. The other board required the teams to program the robot to do various stunts like go up the ramp and “light the flame”, knock over a block in to a designated circle, “kick” the soccer ball in to the goal, knock the pingpong ball against a backboard, and land on the medal platform and say “Game Over.” Various points were awarded for each stunt completed. Of the 148 teams ranging from grade 4 to grade 8, the five teams that represented White Oak Intermediate School placed in the top 50%. Below are the standings:

Kenya 2 placed 7th with 940 points
Kenya 1 placed 38th with 560 points
Bengladesh placed 48th with 475 points
El Salvador placed 73rd with 275 points
Vietnam placed 74th with 265 points

The Smilebox below shows highlights of the day:

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