Mixed Level Program Excellence at Worlds

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC > Previous Games
#1

I posted this in the wrong spot before, my apologies.

One of the programs I work with has four teams attending Worlds this season, three high school teams and one middle school team. The middle school team and one of the high school teams have won local excellence awards and we as a program would like to put in a bid for the excellence award at worlds. I’ve got a lot of questions about how this whole process works with the new interview system:

Do I schedule one interview for the whole program or one per level?

My high school students submitted design challenges, (6 total from the teams attending) and my middle school students did not. How will this be scored according to the rubric in the WC judges handbook? Will the lack of middle school submissions hurt the high school teams if things are judged as one program?

If I have to schedule two different interviews, should I have the whole team present at each or should that be separated by grade level as well?

If I have both teams attend a design award interview, will that count as two points as per the rubric in the judges handbook, or just one?

In the event we do win an excellence award, which level will it be awarded for? All of the students are in 8th grade or higher, so they will all be high school students next season. Will the qualification slot be transferable to a high school team next year if the award is for the middle school level?

Thanks in advance!

#2

Andrew,
These are great questions, thanks for bringing them up!

  1. Schedule a MS Excellence Award Interview and a HS Excellence Award Interview (1 interview for each level).
  2. The lack of MS submissions online will not have any bearing on the HS teams eligibility. The judges will no doubt take your team’s submissions into account (they will discuss how to handle HS vs. MS submissions).
  3. You should only have the MS students present at the MS interview and only the HS students present at the HS interview.
  4. There is only one point available for Design Award Interviews in the rubric. Beyond that, it has no bearing on the number of points earned toward the Excellence Award.
  5. In this case, I believe, the qualification spot would stay with the club that earned it.

Let me know if you have any additional questions!
Thanks,
Brad

#3