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Ranney Robotics Dominating Field across all Grade Levels

The 2016-17 Robotics season is showing signs of major growth throughout New Jersey, with Ranney School teams hosting and leading in competitions across the game field.
 
On November 19, 84 Middle School teams and 64 elementary teams from across the state came to Ranney’s Tinton Falls campus to participate in the largest VEX IQ competition to take place in New Jersey to date. The VEX IQ curriculum, a snap-together robotics system that accompanies the upper-grade VEX design-and-build system, has only been around for four years. Ranney students earned a 1st place, three 2nd place, and two 3rd place wins, among other top-10 honors at the event. Winning teams included:
  • 1st Place: Team Harambe IQ featuring  Shailen Verma, 7th grade, of Rumson and Zachary Baron, 7th grade, of Marlboro
  • 2nd Place: Team Real Steel featuring David Tansey, 6th grade, of Manalapan, and Anthony Sallustio, 7th grade, of Wayside (Christian Virone, 6th grade, of Howell was not present at the competition, but instrumental in the design and programming) /  Team Fire Catchers featuring Syena Schaad, 5th grade, of Spring Lake and Brooke Lembo, 5th grade, of Colts Neck / 2nd Place: Team Red Rover featuring John Welch, 5th grade, of Freehold and Luke Buda, 5th grade, of Red Bank
  • 3rd Place: Team Undecided2 featuring Rishi Sondhi, 7th grade, of Freehold, and Brandon Klatsky, 7th grade, of Colts Neck / Team Moonstruck featuring Sal Principato, 5th grade, of Colts Neck, and Leo Hernandez, 5th grade, of Ocean.
“We are so proud of our students and all the hard work they put into the design, building, and operation of their robots,” said Technology Teacher Maureen Wood, who works with Science Teacher Judy Salisbury to guide the Lower School Robotics teams. 
 
Also in November, one of Ranney’s Upper School Robotics teams, led by international student Jiawen (Kevin) Yu, Rylan Foy of Spring Lake, and international student Kangqing (Connie) He earned a world ranking of 7 in VEX Skills and won the overall local VEX competition featuring 27 robots. The team’s ranking has moved to number 16 as of December 7, as more competitions are held.
 
At the more recent December 3rd VEX IQ local competition, sixth-graders Nick Burniewicz of Lincroft and Andrew Pepe of Atlantic Highlands, took 1st place in the Middle School division, among 71 teams, while fifth-graders Parson Glover of Red Bank and Lily Aspen of Manasquan won 1st place in the elementary division, among 64 competing teams. The event was held at Linden’s McManus Middle School.

As a result of the competitions to date, the following Ranney students have qualified to compete at the New Jersey VEX IQ State Tournament, featuring more than 60 elementary and middle school teams, taking place on Ranney’s Tinton Falls campus December 17:  (Middle School) - David Tansey, Christian Virone, Anthony Sallustio, Andrew Pepe, Nick Burniewicz, Ava and Gwen Kokes of Manasquan, Shailen Verma, Zach Baron, Brandon Klatsky, and Rishi Sondhi; (Lower School) - Parson Glover, Lily Aspen, Sal Principato of Colts Neck, Leo Hernandez, Luke Buda, John Welch, Sophia Lennon of Colts Neck, Shaya Kazmi of Long Branch, Matthew Delisser of Matawan, Curtis Chropuvka of Middletown, Elijah Landers of Little Silver, and Seth Tolchin of Colts Neck.
 
The VEX state tournament is scheduled for March 2017. Ranney’s Upper School students have qualified for states and global competitions for the past four years in a row. “By programming, engineering, and driving robots, our students gain valuable skills in team-building, strategy, and problem-solving,” said Ranney Robotics Advisor Chiara Shah. “These competitions extend the learning experience beyond building and coding, by teaching children to overcome in-the-moment robotic challenges and by pushing them to collaborate.”
 
At Ranney, children begin coding and programming in Early Childhood through a STEAM-centered, computer-science integrated curriculum. For example, Pre-Kindergartners, Kindergartners, and First Graders use measurement, calculation, strategy and more to program and drive DASH robots and Bee-Bots through mazes and number charts. Starting in fourth grade, they can take a Robotics elective and participate in competitions. The teamwork and programming skills they are learning at this young age carry over to Ranney’s upper-grade computer science classes, where Robotics and five different engineering, application, and web design courses are offered. 

Follow Ranney Robotics on Twitter@RanneyRobots
View our Robotics Progam webpage
View photos from the on-campus November 19 tournament
View photos from the December 3 tournament in Linden
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.