Hewitt News

Whether building a robot from scratch or working alongside a teammate to troubleshoot a pesky programming glitch, students in Hewitt’s middle school robotics program are design-thinkers and problem-solvers who learn from their successes and challenges. 

Hewitt Robotics teams start the year by building and testing their robots and documenting their design, construction, and driving strategies in engineering notebooks. Working during elective periods as well as after school, teams immerse themselves in the engineering process, developing their robotics skills while also learning about project and time management. Once they have built, tested, and refined their robot, teams begin practicing for local and state VEX IQ competitions, where they work alongside and compete against students from schools throughout New York. 

Hewitt Robotics had a successful 2017-2018 season, bringing home excellence, design, and teamwork awards from various VEX IQ competitions. We were excited to represent five of the 25 teams competing at this year’s Southern New York State Championship, and at the end of a thrilling competition full of unexpected challenges and countless opportunities to rally and persevere, we were proud to see two of our teams advance to the VEX IQ World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. 

At the championship, Hewitt Robotics competed against 400 top-ranked teams from around the world, making meaningful connections with fellow robotics enthusiasts from cities close to home and countries on the other side of the globe, including an exciting meetup with another all-girls robotics team from Malaysia. At the end of the two-day competition, Hewitt Robotics Team 11442A, made up of two sixth graders at their first world championship, finished 29th out of 80 teams in the engineering division. Hewitt Robotics Team 11442J, two eighth graders competing at the championship for the third year in a row, finished in fourth place in the technology division and 20th overall in the teamwork challenge. We are full of Hewitt pride for all of our Hewitt Robotics teams and their successes on this year’s competitive robotics circuit! Go, Hawks! 

The past three years have seen tremendous growth for our robotics program, and our middle school students have helped put Hewitt Robotics on the map. As they move up to high school, they will bring their drive, maturity, and skill to Hewitt’s new upper school robotics team, which launches this fall. The future of Hewitt Robotics is bright, and we can’t wait to welcome even more talent to the team next year.