CHS Hosts MESA Vex VR Competition

By Misty Cryer

Collaborative efforts were demonstrated at the fast-paced MESA Vex VR Competition held at Carlsbad High School on Saturday, February 22. CHS students involved in the MESA program exhibited their cutting-edge skills in robotics in the intense competition against visiting teams.

A CHS Cavemen team comprised of Jonethan Camarena and Sean Casey received the Design Award, which is a judged award.

“The Design Award recognizes the team’s ability to document and explain their Engineering Design Process via an Engineering Notebook and Team Interview,” said Nicole Olssen-Dail, CHS Math and Computer Science teacher and CHS MESA Advisor.

“MESA offers hands-on STEM experiences through field trips, workshops, and leadership projects,” said Olssen-Dail. “Our students compete in events like VEX Robotics, NM Tech Battle Bots, the American Rocketry Challenge, NM AI Challenge, and Science Bowl,” she said.

Deborah Haggerton, Co-Advisor for CHS MESA, who coordinated the event, said, “MESA is an afterschool program that is designed to get kids involved in the STEM areas, both academically and competitional wise. It has been going on for 40-plus years.

“This year, I think, I had 23 kids consistently participating,” said Haggerton about the CHS students. At the high school level, she said about competitions students are involved in, “They are all very detailed and involved; all require design work and long-term commitments.”

Haggerton said the middle schools also have programs. “High school does a lot of competing for MESA, and it is really a very different game. I tell that to the middle school students all the time,” said Haggerton. “We work with the middle schools quite well; there are so many offerings at the high school,” she said, adding that participants become more responsible at the high school level.

With over 20 years’ experience as an advisor for the program, Haggerton said, “The kids work in all fields of STEM. I’ve always been heavy in both the robotic area and rocketry area to get kids involved. Those are very visible and hands-on.”

For students interested in such things, Olsson-Dail said, “Join MESA to explore, create, and prepare for your future.”

“If you’re interested in engineering processes, if you’re interested in computer processes, MESA is the club to come into,” said Haggerton.

Olssen-Dail said, “STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.” She explained that MESA stands for Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement. She has been with CHS for nine years, with previous experience teaching for New Mexico State University. “It is my 21st year of teaching,” she said.

“This is a really heavy competition,” said Haggerton about the event. “There are 18 teams. This is the last competition to qualify to go to state,” she said. In this event, Cavemen teams made up of nine CHS students competed.

“This is an actual robotic competition where they are driving robots,” said Haggerton. “This year’s game is called ‘High Stakes,’” she said, explaining that the students, performing as teams, are controlling the robot to take round objects called donuts and place them on goals. At the end of the round, there is a climbing ladder for the robot to climb to score points.

Haggerton said the robot competition has two parts. “There is a 15-second autonomous where the robots have to run on their own to get points, and then there’s a one-minute 45-second driver time where there is a driver that is driving it trying to get points,” she said. Two teams work together against another two teams battling it out on a big field, she said.

Haggerton explained that MESA has an annual competition at the state level, with around 17 states participating, that qualifies teams for the national competition. For the first year, she said, teams can go to state only by invitation, while previously, teams could just sign up. “We’ve actually grown so large that there are just too many teams, so they have to win in order to be invited. If they win state, they get to go to the World Cup,” she said.

Although all of the Cavemen teams performed well this year, with one team winning a judged award, “We did not qualify for state,” said Haggerton.

“Our MESA students keep pushing boundaries and exploring new ideas,” said Olssen-Dail. To current students, she said, “Your dedication to STEM leadership and teamwork is shaping your future. Stay active, keep learning, and make the most of every opportunity.”