​2022-2023 was a record-breaking year for Student Competitions.  A total of four teams from the Cattaraugus-Allegany region excelled at their regional qualifying tournaments, advanced to the State competitions, and earned advancements to the World competitions. Congratulations to two VEX Robotics teams from Wellsville Central School, coached by Justin Skrzynski and Caitlin Bowen.  These two teams traveled to Dallas, Texas last month to compete in the ‘Spin Up’ game. Check out next year’s game, ‘Over Under’  at https://www.roboticseducation.org/teams/vex-roboticscompetition/.  CABOCES will host TWO Qualifying Tournaments next year, December 20th, 2023 at Belfast Central School and February 14th, 2024 at Franklinville Central School. 
 
Congratulations to two Odyssey of the Mind teams from Salamanca Central School, coached by Janette McClure and Brenda Windus. These two teams traveled to Michigan State University this month to compete in Problem 4, ‘Where’s the Structure?’. Next year’s Long-Term problems have just been released and will be posted at odysseyofthemind.com. CABOCES will host the Region 19 Odyssey of the Mind Tournament next year, Saturday, March 23rd, 2024 at Salamanca Central School. 
 
For more information about CoSer 506 Student Competitions, contact [email protected]. 

By: Jean Oliverio, CA BOCES Student Programs

Excitement is building in the CABOCES region as teams are forming and starting to prepare for the 2022-2023 CABOCES Student Competitions, sponsored through CoSer 506.  Specifically, thirteen districts will participate in the 2022-2023 CABOCES VEX Robotics Qualifying Tournament Series.  For the first time, teams will have 2 local qualifying tournament experiences.  Twenty-six VEX Robotics teams from across Cattaraugus and Allegany counties will be attending the CABOCES VEX Robotics Qualifying Tournament at Belfast Central School on Wednesday, December 21st, 2022, and Cuba-Rushford Middle/High School on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023. Students will compete with and against teams from Belfast, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Cuba-Rushford, Fillmore, Franklinville, Genesee Valley, Hinsdale, Pioneer, Portville, Randolph Academy, Salamanca, Wellsville, and Whitesville.

Student Programs inspires creative problem-solving, teamwork, deep thinking, and resilience.  This year, more than ever, students, coaches, and the Student Programs team were challenged to apply these traits to achieve the impossible, virtually. 
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While some regions chose to cancel student competitions this year, CABOCES reimagined them all as virtual events.  Despite countless obstacles, innovative teams found ways to participate and excel, thanks to supportive administration and dedicated coaches who were willing to take a risk.  Coaches, students, and judges faced a steep learning curve of mastering the complicated new format of virtual competitions.  The Student Programs team would like to recognize some highlights of the 2020-2021 CABOCES Regional Student Competitions.

Scholastic Challenge (November 2020)
At the uncertain start of the school year, nine districts came together, virtually, and formed a total of 21 teams.  Ellicottville Central School, coached by Ann Chamberlain and Chris Edwards, won 1st place honors in both the Junior and Senior divisions.

Odyssey of the Mind Multi-Regional Tournament (March 2021)
Allegany-Limestone Elementary School took a risk by joining Odyssey of the Mind for the first time. Starting a new membership is impressive in a year that caused many established memberships to drop due to the obvious obstacles. Kimberly Voegelin’s Problem 5 Division 1 team received Region 19’s OMER Award and ended up in 5th place in the New York State Tournament.  Congratulations on establishing a new membership and Division 1 team.

Bolivar-Richburg Central School’s Problem 5 Division 1 team, coached by Carol McClellan, earned a 4th place finish in New York State.  Also, Margaret Werner’s Problem 5 Division 2 team earned an impressive 1st place in the Spontaneous portion of the state competition.
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Seneca Intermediate (Salamanca) School’s Problem 4 Division 2, coached by Janette McClure and Brenda Windus, earned a 3rd place finish in New York State.  Despite the pandemic, they remarkably built a balsa wood structure that held a weight of 202 pounds.  They are currently competing in the 2021 Odyssey of the Mind Virtual World Finals along with 873 teams from all over the world.

NASEF (eSports) NYS Tournament: Rocket League (6-week season and playoffs; March-April 2021)
A pandemic school year might be the best AND worst time to launch a new Student Programs event. Congratulations to two school districts that led the way and were successful in their first eSports season.

Cuba-Rushford Central School’s eSports team competed in the NASEF Rocket League tournament and finished as NYS Finalists and 12th place nationally.  The team consisted of all Seniors who played on school computers located in the library.   Thank you and congratulations to Cuba-Rushford’s Jay Morris who served as General Manager.
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Salamanca City School fielded two Warrior eSports teams and they ended the regular season ranked in 4th and 15th place. Salamanca eSports is fully funded and recognized by the Salamanca Board of Education as a Varsity Sport, with all the benefits and academic responsibilities that come with that designation.  Congratulations to the Warrior’s General Managers Justin Schapp, Aaron Straus, and Kim Dry.

VEX Robotics Skills Challenge (February 2021) and FIRST Lego League Championship Event (April 2021)
Building a robot in a normal year is difficult.  Building a robot during a pandemic, with school closures and quarantines, sounds impossible.  Yet, one school district found a way to field four VEX teams, coached by Dave Taylor, and four Lego League teams, coached by Dawn Wardner.
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Franklinville Central School’s teams worked hard and engineered an impressive season.  Collectively, the VEX teams earned the Design Award, the Robot Skills 2nd Place Award, and the Robot Skills Champion Award at the CABOCES Skills Challenge in February and, all four teams advanced to the Northern NYS Finals in April.

Additionally, one of Dawn Wardner’s Lego League teams scored in 5th place in the robot matches at the New York State Championship Event.

​​Now is the time to plan to join the fun in the 2021-2022 school year!

Follow this link https://caboces.org/services/student-programs/extra-curricular-activities/ as next year’s events will be published here as soon as they are confirmed.  Contact [email protected] for more information.

By: Jean Oliverio, CA BOCES Student Programs

Cuba, New York – Wednesday, January 15, 2020 – Twenty-seven VEX Robotics teams from across Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties attended the 2nd annual VEX Robotics Qualifying Tournament at Cuba-Rushford Middle/High School on Wednesday, January 15, 2020. Students competed with and against teams from Belfast, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Cuba-Rushford, Fillmore, Franklinville, Genesee Valley, Hinsdale, Pioneer, Portville, Salamanca, Scio, Wellsville, and Whitesville.  The middle and high school students executed the 2019-2020 VEX Robotics Competition game, Tower Takeover, which is played by placing different colored cubes in towers and goal zones during a 2-minute match.
Congratulations go out to 4 teams from Cuba-Rushford and Franklinville.  Specifically, 2 Cuba-Rushford teams (Rebel Robotics and Yellow Team), who formed an alliance and went on to become Tournament Champions.  The Franklinville (Wasted Potential) team earned the Excellence Award and the Franklinville (The Ratz) team earned the Design Award.  These four teams qualify to attend the Northern New York State Championship to be held in Syracuse on February 29.
Additionally, the Judges Award was presented to the Wellsville team (Big Cat Robotics) to acknowledge their outstanding Engineering Notebook. 
The Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Alex Palowitch from iDesign Solutions.
To prepare for the tournament, students worked together to design, build and program a semiautonomous robot that could quickly and efficiently solve the specific challenges of the 2019-2020 VEX Robotics Competition game, Tower Takeover.  Teams studied electronics, programming, mechanical systems, animation, 3D CAD, computer aided machining, web design, and materials fabrication.  An equally important set of skills is learned through competition: communication, negotiation, project management, time management and teamwork.
The tournament was possible because of a tremendous collaborative effort between Cuba-Rushford school and CABOCES.  The CABOCES Tech Support team, along with ISS (Professional Development, Learning Resources, and Student Programs) worked together to make the tournament a success.  Additional support and guidance, which was invaluable, came from Alex Palowitch from iDESIGN Solutions. 
The Cuba-Rushford Qualifying Tournament is one of a series of VEX Robotics Competitions taking place internationally throughout the year. VEX Competitions are the largest and fastest growing competitive robotics programs for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and college aged students around the world. VEX Competitions represent over 24,000 teams from 61 countries that participate in more than 1,650 VEX Competition events worldwide. The competition season culminates each spring, with VEX Robotics World Championship, a highly anticipated event that unites top qualifying teams from local, state, regional and international VEX Robotics Competitions to crown World Champions. More information about the VEX Robotics Competition is available at RoboticsEducation.org, RobotEvents.com and VEXRobotics.com. To find out how to become involved in VEX Robotics in the CABOCES region, email [email protected] or call 716-376-8323.
About the REC Foundation
The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation manages the VEX Robotics Competition, which thousands of schools participate in around the world each year.  REC states that one million students are reached worldwide through all the VEX robotics programs, classrooms, and competitions.
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. Its goal is to provide these programs with services, solutions, and a community that allows them to flourish in a way that fosters the technical and interpersonal skills necessary for students to succeed in the 21st Century. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work so that one day these programs will become accessible to all students and all schools in all communities. For more information on REC Foundation, visit www.RoboticsEducation.org.
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Jean Oliverio, Student Programs, ISS, CABOCES

Of all the technology integrations that have taken place recently in the CA BOCES region, the upswing of VEX robotics has been the most exciting for me. This year’s competition, Tower Takeover, as well as those from previous years, is more than just an engineering challenge. Students must demonstrate more than academic ability if they want to be successful in this arena.
The REC Foundation includes a similar sentiment on their website:
“In addition to learning valuable engineering skills, students gain life skills such as teamwork, perseverance, communication, collaboration, project management, and critical thinking. The VEX Robotics Competition prepares students to become future innovators with 95% of participants reporting an increased interest in STEM subject areas and pursuing STEM-related careers.”

Almost always, technology should be a tool, not the goal. The scenarios above followed this approach of utilizing technology as a means to an end, providing meaningful benefits on teaching and learning. Hopefully your pursuits with technology are equally as fruitful.
By: Mark Beckwith, Model Schools

Cuba, New York – Wednesday, January 16, 2019 – Fifteen VEX Robotics teams from across Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties attended the inaugural VEX Robotics Qualifying Tournament at Cuba-Rushford Middle/High School on Wednesday, January 16, 2019. Students competed with and against teams from Pioneer, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Franklinville, Salamanca, Scio, Wellsville, Genesee Valley, and Cuba-Rushford.  The middle and high school students executed the 2018-2019 VEX Robotics Competition game, Turning Point, which is played by stacking caps on posts, flipping caps, stacking balls on caps, toggling flags, throwing balls, and parking robots.