Canton Science Olympiad, Robotics Teams Have Successful Spring
STEM

Canton Science Olympiad, Robotics Teams Have Successful Spring

NHA Communications Team

It’s been a busy spring for Canton Charter Academy and students on the Science Olympiad and robotics teams have gotten firsthand experiences in STEM education and competitions. Admissions Representative Lalita Mishra coaches both teams and not only has them competing at a high level, but she is also promoting life skills such as collaboration and perseverance. Check out what these students got to experience in these amazing groups:

Science Olympiad

Canton’s Science Olympiad teams immersed themselves in all things science in preparation for competition this year. Science Olympiad tests scholars’ knowledge of a variety of topics such as poisons, meteorology, microbes, space, technology, and more.

The school had 21 middle-school scholars and six fifth-grade students come together to form two teams, competing at several competitions, including the University of Michigan Science Olympiad Invitational. While the experience was a great way to show what scholars knew, Mishra said it was also an opportunity to experience the college atmosphere.

K-8 School in Canton: Canton Charter Science Olympiad scholars attend their first competition of the year.

Science Olympiad scholars attend their first competition of the year. Over the course of the competition season, students gained knowledge and confidence, learning life-skills along the way.
 
“At University of Michigan, some of the competition buildings were in different sections of campus, so they had to navigate that,” Mishra said. “They are learning how to read a schedule. They are learning how to read a map. They are learning time management. They’re learning the science part and they are learning life management skills.”

Canton’s squad took fourth overall in their regional competition, just missing out on a berth to the state competition. Despite their season ending earlier than they hoped, scholars benefitted from their time together as a group.

K-8 School in Canton: Canton Charter Science Olympiad scholars after their regional competition.
Science Olympiad scholars pose following the regional Science Olympiad competition, where the team placed fourth overall.
 
At their first competition of the year, Canton claimed medals in only two of the topic-specific contests. By the end of the year, Canton scholars earned medals in 12 competition areas. This kind of growth from students should come as no surprise given Canton has outperformed the local district since it opened in 2007.

Congratulations on a great Science Olympiad season!

Robotics Teams

Canton’s robotics teams recently competed in a qualifying event for Robofest, an annual competition in which teams must create a fully autonomous robot to complete tasks in a dynamic environment. Two teams punched their ticket to the Robofest World Championship in May.

Divya Choudhary, Elizabeth Ciulinaru, Kizhaya Fernandes, and Shyu Ru Choy comprise Team SpaceAlpha, and they designed a rover robot to pick up an incapacitated astronaut on the lunar South Pole and return them to base camp.

K-8 School in Canton: Canton Charter Robotics team pose after their win at a regional Robofest competition.
(From left to right) Coaches Lalita Mishra and Ajay Choudhary, and sixth-graders Kizhaya Fernandes, Divya Choudhary, Elizabeth Ciulinaru, and Shyu Ru Choy pose after their win at a regional Robofest competition.

Ethan McClellan, Reyansh Prabhakar, Shanaya Thakkar, Ramanathan Nelliyan, and Viaan Ramani comprise the REV-RoboSquad, and they designed a robot for autonomous snow blowing.

Both teams are advancing to the Robofest World Championship at Lawrence Technological University in the Robofest Exhibition section. This competition offers a platform for teams to expand beyond robot games and focus on showcasing their robots. Their robots must be autonomous, meaning there are no controllers and they are only working off the programming students give them.

K-8 School in Canton: Canton Charter Robotics team heads to Robofest World Championship in May.
(From left to right) Shanaya Thakkar, Viaan Ramani, Ramanathan Nelliyan, Reyansh Prabhakar, and Ethan McClellan comprise REV-RoboSquad. They are also headed to the Robofest World Championship in May.

Team SpaceAlpha and REV-RoboSquad both earned their place at the World Championship with strong showings at the Regional Junior Exhibition. The astronaut-saving robot from Team SpaceAlpha earned the top spot and the snow-plowing robot from REV-RoboSquad was the last robot to advance.

These teams had the opportunity to compete virtually, but Mishra said she wanted students to experience a competition setting.

K-8 School in Canton: Canton Charter Robotics Team SpaceAlpha head to World Championship in May.
The group of middle schoolers, also known as Team SpaceAlpha, is headed to the World Championship in May.

“I wanted these kids to go and compete with other schools,” Mishra said. “You might hear that stress is not good, but a tiny bit of stress is always good. A diamond wouldn’t be the same if it didn’t go under heat and pressure. Sometimes you need a little stress.”

The pressure turned out to be a positive for these Canton scholars and they are excited to compete on a bigger stage next month. Congrats to Team SpaceAlpha, REV-RoboSquad, and all Canton robotics participants!

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About Canton Charter Academy

Canton Charter Academy is a tuition-free public charter school in Canton, MI, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies® (NHA®) network of 100+ tuition-free public charter schools serving more than 67,000 students from kindergarten through high school across nine states.

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