Robotics
Walsh Middle School is part of a vibrant VEX Robotics competition community. Walsh has an after school robotics club with competitive teams called WalshBots that is run on Tuesdays for beginners and advance members meet Wednesday and Thursday. Robotics is integrated into 8th grade TechEd offering. Now in its fifth year, the WalshBots compete at Qunisigamond Community College against three dozen middle school regional teams. Walsh is also the host site for middle and high school competitions. Last year Walsh was the host site for the Southern New England Middle School Regional Championships. he WalshBots have qualified four times to compete at the VEX World Championships against teams from around the globe, sending two teams last season.
WalshBots have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WalshBots
Here is a glimpse of competition during Skyrise season:
Our novice season:
The results in 2013-2014:
6th Grade Team:
QCC Massachusetts State Tossup Competition 1/11/14
Tournament Championship
8th Grade Team:
QCC VEX Toss Up Qualifier 2/8/14
Tournament Champions
Design Award
New England Regional Middle School Toss Up Competition
Excellence Award
Programming Skills Award
Tournament Finalists
The 8th grade team earned a spot at the VEX World Championship in Anaheim California where they competed against teams from all around the globe.
Robotics at Walsh Middle School has been made possible by generous support from:
Quinsigamond Community College through their K12 STEM Outreach programs supported by EMC, Santander, and tireless efforts Prof. Betty Lauer and her team.
Retirees School Volunteers Association - in addition to grants to Framingham Robotics clubs, Walsh is fortunate to have dedicated volunteers: Mel Weinzimer, Walter Caughy, Mark Barnett, and Richard Serwetman.
Raytheon Company - Walsh has benefited from generous yearly grants from Raytheon IDS.
MathWorks - provided additional competition equipment, enabling Walsh to be a host site for Regional Championships.
Framingham Education Foundation provided a grant to acquire a robotics competition field so Framingham can host in-town competitions, greatly increasing the number of students that can participate in robotics competitions.