Yorkton students have shown they have what it takes to not just compete on the global scale but to dominate.
The Board of Education of the Good Spirit School Division (GSSD) is recognizing the amazing achievements of the YRHS Robotics team. This past week, they participated in, and were awarded the top ranking team in the World Skills Americas robotics competition held in Sao Paulo, Brazil!
Team members in attendance include Bo Chiasson (Grade 11) and Jayden Leister (Grade 12) as well as coach Mr. Kevin Chiasson, YRHS Practical and Applied Arts teacher.
The YRHS Robotics team consists of four members: Bo Chiasson, Jayden Leister, Rachel Machnee and Taylor Pachal. All four students attended the Skills Canada provincial competition as well as Skills Canada Nationals competition but only two students from the first place team can participate in international competitions.
The WorldSkills Americas competition included teams from North and South America. The next and final step is attendance at the WorldSkills International competition to be held in Leipzig, Germany in July, 2013 where the local pair will compete against teams from around the world.
Bo and Jayden have been preparing for the past four months through a series of modules by practicing their programming skills on a robot similar to the one they would be given to work with at the competition. Two days before competition, the boys learned that there had been dramatic changes to two of the four modules meaning that everything they had practiced was incorrect.
Instead of getting frustrated, the pair worked extremely hard to forge through the new material and understand it for the competition; a truly remarkable feat. Not only did they learn the material but they mastered it with their robot being nicknamed "Usain Bolt" due to the high level of accuracy and speed it was able to attain,
"We are ecstatic that our students are not only able to compete on the world stage but that they are the individuals leading the way in their field," states Bryan Cottenie, Board Chair. "This is a great opportunity for our students to show that the work they are doing in a classroom setting is of international standard. Mr. Chiasson and his team are to be commended on their dedication to not only this competition but to the upcoming WorldSkills competition in Leipzig, Germany next summer."
The YRHS team competed against students attending trade schools comparable to SIAST-aged students; they were the youngest team in attendance making their win that much more remarkable. Bo and Jayden achieved a final mark of 91.5 out of 100 with the second place finisher scoring 82 points; it was a decisive victory.
"It's not all about winning but about personal growth, that has been our goal all along, to develop personally," states Chiasson. He goes on to say, "This was a perfect scenario where students were under pressure in a competitive situation and they performed wonderfully. The color of the medal didn't really matter but it was experiencing the international level of competition and achieving our goal that helped us all to personally grow.
"Community support with volunteers helping in both time commitments and funding has been tremendous. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to achieve the levels we have. Additional support is always welcome as We prepare to head to Germany in July."
The group estimates that they will spend approximately 2,000 hours in preparation for both international competitions.
The Practical and Applied Arts Department at the Yorkton Regional High School has seen dramatic growth in this newer course offering at the school. In the fall of 2009, the YRHS Robotics Club started as an extra-curricular activity with three students involved. Over the years, and as interest has grown, a Robotics 10 course was implemented at the school by Chiasson and, due to rising popularity, Grade's 9 and 11 robotics courses are now being developed to allow students to continue with their interests in this area.
On the afternoon of Monday, November 26, Bo and Jayden along with Chiasson will be at the Legislature in Regina to demo their robot for Members of the Legislature.
Afterwards, they will join local MLA Greg Ottenbreit who will introduce them to the Legislative Assembly.
For more details on Bo and Jayden's trip to San Paulo, check out the team's dedicated Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/yrhsrobotics. The link can also be found on the GSSD website at www.gssd.ca.
As the year progresses, the students will continue to post updates to this page up to and including WorldSkills International in July, 2013.
