West Virginia Middle School Students to Compete in Second Annual Cyber Robotics Coding Competition

DERRY, N.H., Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- "March Madness" has a new connotation for middle school students across West Virginia. Instead of lacing up basketball shoes, they'll be sharpening coding skills in the second annual Cyber Robotics Coding Competition (CRCC), a first-of-its-kind program that provides students and educators with a fun and engaging way to learn coding skills. Open to grades 5-8 in every middle school, home-school or after-school group, the West Virginia CRCC is expected to become the largest robotics competition in the state.

This year's competition is organized by the Intelitek Stem & CTE Education Foundation (ISCEF) and sponsored by Fairmont State University (FSU), NASA's Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Educator Resource Center, and Girls Who Code.

"Learning about coding and robotics can give students an on-ramp to computer science exploration," said Ido Yerushalmi, CEO of Intelitek. "The great thing about our competitions is that neither teachers or students need prior coding or robotics knowledge. And even better, it gets students excited about STEM while minimizing apprehension regarding coding, robotics and technology in general."

Competitors undertake their tasks (called missions) on Intelitek's CoderZ Cyber Robotics Learning Environment, a cloud-based platform featuring a 3D animated graphical simulation of LEGO robotics kits. The online platform's coding interface allows users to activate a virtual robot, or "cyber-robot," and watch the results in a real-time simulation.

Like last year, the West Virginia CRCC starts with professional learning and training for teachers followed by the boot camp that allow students to familiarize themselves with CoderZ at their own pace. After the boot camp, there will be two rounds of qualifying competitions between March 17-31 and April 1-15. In-person state championship finals will take place May 15 at FSU where top students from all participating schools will square off, face-to-face, for the trophy. Awards will be presented for performance, student participation ratios, and diversity.

"Since the only hardware needed is a computer and Internet connection, CRCC eliminates physical barriers to participation," said Dr. Todd I. Ensign, the program manager for the IV&V Educator Resource Center. "West Virginia's Cyber Robotics Coding Competition finally levels the playing field and ensures that every student can participate in our fastest-growing STEM sport, robotics."

Additional CRCC competitions are in the works for the fall in more than 30 states and countries. For more information on the competitions go to https://crcc.io or contact Graham Celine, Director of CRCC at ISCEF, at gceline@iscefoundation.org.

About Intelitek
Intelitek has been transforming education and bringing robotics into classrooms across the globe through comprehensive technology learning solutions for more than 30 years. The Company's innovative tools and technologies empower instructors and inspire students to improve the world around them. Intelitek's sustainable support and professional development ensure the continued success of educational programs. By helping deliver the competencies needed for in-demand careers, Intelitek is producing results for students, teachers, nations, and economies.

Media Contact: Charlotte Andrist
Nickel Communications
charlotte@nickelcommpr.com 
770-310-5244

SOURCE Intelitek