On April 22-25, Thomas Jefferson Robotics Team 2501J will get the opportunity to compete in the Vex World Championships which will be located in Louisville, Kentucky.

2501J got second place in Skills and Think Award, they also became the 2020 Iowa Robotics State Champions.

2501B were Tournament finalists and Amaze Award winners.

2501T were CREATE Award winners.

Sadly, 2501T and 2501A both lost in the semi-finals to 2501J.

Junior Cassidy Powell is the team captain for 2501T.

Powell stated, “I joined Robotics at the beginning of Fall last year, along with being the team captain, I am also the main programmer.”

“My favorite thing about Robotics would be the environment because it’s really fun to get to go to tournaments and when we’re all competing against each other there’s tension and we’re all angry at each other, although, we’re all friends so eventually everything is ok,” said Powell.

Powell also talked about how being team captain does put a little bit of pressure on her, however, they do a pretty good job of distributing things and everyone really works as a team as opposed to mutuals.

James Crum, Thomas Jefferson High School’s Robotics Coach talked about his favorite part about being the Robotics Coach and the student’s work ethic.

“Being the Robotics Coach at Thomas Jefferson is one of the most satisfying positions I perform, these students continue to perform at amazing levels, proving that TJ can compete with anyone. We continue to learn in Robotics, that is what it is all about, learning your flaws and trying to get better from match to match,” said Crum.

Crum also talked about how he needs to become more organized and get better and fundraising to have Robotics at TJ and provide the opportunity for our teams to compete with their peers at tournaments outside of the Council Bluffs Metro Area.

“There are 2 tournaments left in our season, 2501T and 2501J will compete with and against over 250 teams from Canada and the U.S. at the U.S.Open at the Mid America Center April 2-4. This is probably the 2nd largest robotics tournament in the World and is only open to teams that have been invited,” said Crum.

Thomas Jefferson Robotics team 2501J will be competing in the Vex World Championships located in Louisville, Kentucky during April 22 – 25. This robotics tournament is the largest in the world and is Guinness Verified.

The tournament will have a total of 720 high school teams in total from around the world. The tournament will also include college teams, two different divisions of Middle school robotics as well as an Elementary Division.