Local Team Qualifies for a Spot at the 2026 TN Middle VEX IQ Robotics State Championship
In mid-January, Cascade Middle School’s VEX IQ Robotics Competition Team A captured the Teamwork Champion Award at the Knox Doss Robotics Roundup. Competing alongside 39 teams from across Tennessee, the students earned recognition for excellence in collaboration and are now positioned to pursue qualification for the 2026 Tennessee Middle VEX IQ Robotics State Championship and a potential opportunity to compete at the VEX Worlds event in St. Louis.
The VEX IQ Robotics Competition challenges middle school students to design and build robots from snap‑together VEX IQ components to accomplish an annual engineering game. Teams demonstrate their capabilities in Teamwork Matches and showcase individual driver‑controlled and programming skills in the Robot Skills Challenges. In addition, the STEM Research Project component encourages students to investigate an engineering problem of their choice and present their findings to event judges and the community.
Participation in VEX IQ provides students with hands‑on experience in teamwork, critical thinking, project management, communication and problem solving - skills that prepare them to become the next generation of innovators.
“Teamwork, problem‑solving and ingenuity are all on display at a VEX IQ Robotics Competition event, and students develop these skills all year long by participating on a robotics team,” said Dan Mantz, CEO of the REC Foundation. “Together, with the support of educators, coaches and mentors, we’re fostering students’ passion for STEM at a young age to ensure we have a generation dedicated to creating new discoveries and tackling life’s future challenges.”
“Ms. Meredith Spears and I are incredibly proud of these students,” said Cascade Middle School Teacher Corrie Feralin, one of the team’s coaches. “They worked tirelessly to design, build and refine a robot that could perform under pressure. Their dedication, collaboration and problem‑solving are what earned them this award, and watching them grow has been the most rewarding part of this journey.”
The REC Foundation manages the VEX IQ Robotics Competition, part of the world’s largest and fastest‑growing competitive robotics program. VEX Competitions engage teams from elementary through college levels; more than 55,000 teams across 125 countries participate in over 3,600 events worldwide.
