Finley Robotics Battles in State Championship

The J. Taylor Finley Middle School robotics team went toe-to-toe with New York’s best at the state championships and held its own, placing 15th overall in an incredibly distinguished field of 25 exceptional squads.

Finley vied at the VEXIQ State Championship PS 124 in South Ozone Park, Queens. The top three teams earned berths in the world championship competition.

“The students started out very strong, holding a place in the Top 10 for most of the day,” said Mary Brandt, who along with fellow computer science teacher Tara Vatske, serves as the Finley robotics club faculty advisor. “Towards the end, as the competition started to heat up, our team dropped to 15th place out of 25 teams. However, being that these 25 teams are the best in the state, we are very proud of them and count this as a huge accomplishment.”

In the “skills and autonomous coding” competition, Finley finished a very respectable 12th place. “This team has worked so hard throughout the course of our season and everyone is already talking about what to do differently for next year’s season to improve their robot design,” Ms. Brandt said.

The Finley robotics club seeks to provide students with a pre-college STEM experience, including exposure to real-world engineering applications. The organization strives to make a positive impact on the school and community.

“While we did not qualify for Worlds, it was a very big accomplishment for the students,” Ms. Brandt said. “The students competed against the best teams in the state and held a place among the leaders for most of the day.”