Team "Flying Cockroaches" receiving the Excellence Award at the NH/VT Robotics State Championships. Winning the award qualifies the students to compete at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship in May.
DURHAM – Superintendent Dr. Robert Shaps and Principal Bill Sullivan are pleased to share that several Oyster River Middle School (ORMS) robotics teams were awarded at the 2025 NH/VT Robotics State Championships.
On March 9, 16 ORMS robotics teams were invited to compete in the State Championships, making up 41 percent of the competing teams. The competition was held at Manchester Community College.
This year, students competed in the VEX IQ Robotics Competition Rapid Relay. During this competition, students compete in the Teamwork Challenge using two robots on a rectangular field, working together to score points in one-minute-long matches. Points were awarded based on how many goals were scored, how many switches were cleared, and how many successful passes the team completed before scoring.
Teams also competed in the Robot Skills Challenge, where one robot takes the field to score as many points as possible. During this contest, students are challenged to operate their robots using both driver-controlled skills and autonomous coding skills.
Oyster River students claimed 10 spots out of the top 13 in the Teamwork Challenge and had 10 of the top 12 highest-placing robots in the Robot Skills Challenge, including the top 6 spots.
The following teams received special awards at the tournament:
- 2820A "Flying Cockroaches": Excellence Award winner (best overall team based on interviews, documentation of engineering process and robot performance)
- 2820B "Howler Monkey": Skills Champions and Amaze Award winner
- 2820C "Aimbot": Innovate Award winner
- 2820R "The Octonauts": Design Award winner
- 2820T "The Condiment Crew": Judge's Award winner
- 2820Y "The Green Giants": Teamwork Champions
Teams "Flying Cockroaches" and "The Green Giants" earned invitations to compete in May at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas. The World Championship is the largest robotics competition in the world.
"Each of these students did an incredible job representing our robust robotics program at the state championships," said Principal Sullivan. "I would like to congratulate all participating students for their commitment and ingenuity. I am eager to watch them continue to refine and develop their skills."
“We are incredibly excited to see students’ growing passion for robotics,” said Superintendent Shaps. “Our rapidly evolving and interdependent world calls for creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork. Oyster River students demonstrated these skills in addition to their ability to adapt, innovate, and lead. I couldn’t be prouder of their success and the dedicated work of our staff and community who made this possible”
Team "The Green Giants" also earned an invitation to the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship after being named Teamwork Challenge Champions. From left to right: Rynn Haley, William Weagle, Callan Haley, Westin Roberge. Not pictured: Foster Strong.
Team "Aimbot" received the Innovate Award at the 2025 NH/VT Robotics State Championships. From left to right: Anyan Yao, Aditi Kidambi, Nathan Turcotte, Meixi Liu, Derek Geng.