Kohala HS Takes Robotics Competition Sportsmanship Award

Na Paniolo robotics team from Kohala High School in Kapaʻau. PC: Art Kimura.

Na Paniolo, a robotics team from Kohala High School in Kapaʻau on the Big Island, took home the VEX VRC Sportsmanship Award at the 2017 Pan Pacific VEX Robotics Championships for demonstrating courtesy and enthusiasm at the event.

The team also was a runner-up in the VRC competition.

Seventy-nine teams from Hawaiʻi, California and China participated in the weekend tournament sponsored by the Hawaiian Electric Companies and Okinawa Enetech with the support of the Engineers’ Council – University of Hawaiʻi and Hawaiʻi Space Grant Consortium.

Robotics teams from Sacred Hearts Academy and Pearl City High School on O‘ahu won their respective competition Excellence Awards, qualifying both to participate in the 2018 VEX World Championships to be held next April in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Excellence Award is the highest award presented in the VEX Championships, and is
presented to a team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a high quality VEX robotics
program.

In the VEX IQ Championships, comprised of student teams in grades three to eight, the all-girl Sacred
Hearts Academy team 2437A entered the finals with their sister team, 2437B, as the top-seeded
alliance.

Ultimately, team 2437A took home the Robot Skills Champion Award and won the Excellence Award.

According to organizers, team 2437A’s skills score has them ranked fourth in the world after the tournament.

In the VEX VRC Championship, comprised of middle and high school students, Pearl City High
School’s team, 4142A, earned the Design Award for their organized and professional approach
to the design process, project and time management, and team organization, which are all
program elements that helped them win the Excellence Award.

This is the second consecutive year that Pearl City High School qualified for the VEX Worlds through their win at the Pan Pacific VEX.

Other top awards were handed to the Kailua-based Huakailani School for Girls and an independent team (Phoenixbots) from Mililani, which together earned the 2017 Pan Pacific VEX IQ Teamwork Champion Award for their two-team alliance.

A three-team alliance of Molokaʻi High School, Waialua High & Intermediate School and the
Rolling Robots from Rolling Hills Estates, California, was named the 2017 Pan Pacific VEX VRC
Tournament Champions.

Full results of the 2017 Pan Pacific VEX Robotics Championship can be found online.