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Chattanooga Christian School Robotics Students Finish in Top 24 at VEX Robotics World Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn.—Chattanooga Christian School Robotics Team 663S finished in the top 24 (5%) of teams at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, TX last week. In addition to being recognized as a World Division Finalist, 663S “Vegan Cheese” won the Sportsmanship Award, which is awarded to teams that display “a high degree of helpfulness, respect, and positivity on and off the competition field.” These middle school students competed among the top 480 teams from around the world for the title of World Champion. The competition requires middle school students to execute the 2023-2024 VEX VRC Robotics Competition game, Over Under, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation. There are 2,897 registered middle school VEX Robotics teams in the world.
The most successful team in the 8-year history of the CCS Robotics program, 663S won 15 awards including Tennessee State Champion in 2024, five tournament championships, two Think Awards for programming, and the Excellence Award, the highest honor awarded in the VEX Robotics competition. Team 663S “Vegan Cheese” is composed of middle school students Miller Bostrom, Cash Gray, Joey McArdle, and Aaron Wescher. To participate in the VEX Robotics Competition, the group worked together over the course of the school year to design, build, and program a robot that could accomplish specific tasks and score as many points as possible in the 2023-2024 VEX Robotics Competition game, Over Under. During the 2023-2024 season, 663S had a record of 75 wins and 31 losses, with the majority of losses occurring at competitions against either high school teams or middle school teams at the national or world level. At Worlds, they won the Sportsmanship award and advanced all the way to the division finals before losing to the alliance that would go on to become the World Champion.
Middle School Robotics Coach John Shiraef said, “This outstanding team consistently demonstrates the qualities and character traits we are working to grow in all of our students within the CCS robotics program. They consistently model a willingness to sacrifice time to help younger teams as well as a willingness to collaborate and to be mentored by the more experienced teams in order to enhance and develop their decision-making within the engineering design process. While we do not primarily focus on trophies and awards, team Vegan Cheese is living proof that when you work to master the fundamentals of teamwork, and are willing to listen and grow, the Lord will equip you to achieve amazing things for His glory. Thank you also to the unbelievable parents that have made endless sacrifices to support them, and to Coach Monahan and the robotics community at CCS for building a program that has produced a team that consistently models Christ and is able to compete as peers with the top teams in the world.”
Sponsored by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, the VEX Robotics Competition is recognized as the largest and fastest growing international middle school and high school robotics program. Each year, over 20,000 teams from 50+ countries compete in more than 1,700 tournaments worldwide. The season culminates in the VEX Robotics Championship that pairs top qualifying teams from around the world.
