WVMCC’s Youth Robotics Teams Take On VEX IQ Rookie Tournament!
Saturday, January 31, 2026 – Twenty teams from Central Washington took over the gallery floor of the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center to participate in a VEX IQ Rookie Tournament. This tournament encouraged a learning environment as first-year robotics students navigated their way through an all-day event in this year’s VEX IQ game, Mix & Match. Participating schools included: Mt. Stuart Elementary, Ida Nason Aronica Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Ellensburg Robotics Club, and our very own Wenatchee Valley Museum Robotics.
The Museum runs a competitive youth robotics program out of the Makerspace and currently has three elementary teams and three middle school teams. Our teams are composed of students from Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, Cashmere, and Entiat. At a tournament, teams must compete with different teamwork alliances, trying to score as many points as possible. Then, teams must individually try to score as many points as they can using their driving skills and autonomous (programming) skills. Finally, teams are interviewed as sets of judges who ask questions pertaining to the iterations of their robot, coding, and game strategy as a follow up to the teams Engineering Notebook.
On the middle school side, The ROBO KINGS had an impressive showing, ranking first through eight qualification rounds. They ended up taking home the Judges Award for their many attributes displayed through the judging interview and clear knowledge of game play strategy. On the elementary side, the ROBO NINJA WOLVES took home the Teamwork Championship award along with an invitation to the Washington State VEX IQ Elementary State Championship.
This season, we are celebrating the following teams:
Elementary School
1270A – Wenatchee Salmon: Josh, Wesson, Julia, and Kya
1270 B – That’s a lot of Cheese!: Liam, Mason, Bowman, and Madilyn
1270C – Robo Ninja Wolves: Alek, Henry, Skade, and Jemima
Middle School
1270D – Titanium Tanks: Jonathan, Cora, Nasario, and Jackson
1270E – The Cool People: Marion, Brooks, and Maverick
1270F – Robo Kings: Cruz, Mizael, Aieden, and Tommy
The Museum’s robotics program, part of the Museum’s education department, is currently run by Brigitte Wiegand, formerly of Foothills Middle School Robotics where she coached competitive robotics for ten years. As the Museum’s Robotics Program Coordinator, she is hoping to build the robotics community and open up more STEM opportunities for students in grades 3-8. Spring and Summer Robotics Camps fill up quickly as do spots for our competitive teams. Brigitte states, “What we are doing here at the museum is special. This is the first community-based VEX-IQ program in the Wenatchee Valley. It’s important to provide these opportunities to younger students. Not all students want to play sports, or want to be on an advanced team. I’m really excited about the opportunities we can provide for students through the Museum’s Makerspace. Robotics allows students to learn to be a good teammate and utilize those 21st century skills. I’m excited for the future of the program.”
Brigitte also says that she is very grateful for the support she gets from the Museum’s Education Department, especially from Jeff Becklund, Program & Tour Coordinator, who helps support our students at tournaments and practices. “He’s truly the behind-the-scenes backbone of our program. He celebrates the learning process with the students. It’s fun to watch.”
The Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center’s Robotics program is sponsored by Microsoft and the Confluence Health & Wenatchee Valley Medical Group Partnership Fund.
For more information about the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center’s Robotics program or find out how to get involved, contact [email protected].
