FANTASTIC FINALS FINISH
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December 4, 2023
For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame Prep, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, please visit the admissions section of our website here.
Strong finish at league finals sets up Notre Dame Prep VRC teams for state championship in February.
Students in this year's VEX Robotics Competition program at Notre Dame Prep gather for a photo. More photos below.
On Saturday, Dec. 2, Notre Dame Prep hosted the VEX Robotics Competition league finals for Oakland County. The event featured 24 teams from area schools, including Cranbrook, Oakland Christian, Rochester Hills Christian and Shrine.
According to Jerry Palardy, NDP's robotics team mentor and coach, NDP finished the season strong, with most of the NDP's teams ranking in the top 10, while dominating the special awards handed out at the end of the competition.
"Team #333W, or 'Power of the Square' (Kevin Carter, Dino Acciavatti and Brooklyn Haddad), won the High School Excellence Award, which is presented to the best overall team by age division," Palardy said. "The award is only handed if there is a team that is a top contender in all facets of the competition, including match play, designing, programming and interviews with judges."
Team #3333T, or the "Tornado Troopers" (Steven Carter and Juan Pablo Turrubiartes),won the Middle School Excellence Award which like the high school version, is only awarded if there is a team that is a top contender in all facets of the competition.
"Team #3333J, or 'Slightly Hostile Bees' (Jeffrey Guo, Beck Sliver, Jose Turrubiartes and Henry Wilson), won the Design and Robot Skills Champion awards," Palardy added. "This Design honor goes to the team with the most effective and efficient design process and the Robot Skills Champion Award is earned by obtaining the highest score while running the robot through a series of programming and driving time trials."
Finally, team #3333Y, or "Wynaut" (David Ma, Thomas Binkowski and Graden Grech), won the Innovate Award for the unique design of their drivetrain.
"Of course, winning feels great, but it also validates the time and effort our teams put into their robots and notebooks, the impressions they left with the judges, and their understanding of the design process," Palardy said. "Winning Excellence qualifies #3333W for the state championship. The awards that #3333J and #3333T earned would have also qualified them for the state finals, but they were already in."
Team #3333X and #3333Y also previously qualified for the state championships, which will be in February, but now "all our teams that qualified will be working hard in the meantime to improve on their robots with hopes of becoming the next generation of state champions from NDP," said Palardy.
Team #3333Y: David Ma, Thomas Binkowski and Graden Grech.
Coaches join students for a photo after this year's VEX Robotics Competition league finals at Notre Dame Prep.
Team #3333T: Steven Carter and Juan Pablo Turrubiartes.
Team #3333W: Dino Acciavatti, Brooklyn Haddad and Kevin Carter.
Team #3333J: Jeffrey Guo, Beck Sliver, Jose Turrubiartes and Henry Wilson.
For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame Prep, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, please visit the admissions section of our website here.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School
Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.