Several robotics teams from Traverse City are headed to the upcoming world championships in Louisville in April, including elementary, middle, and high school teams.

Team 1313A, the RoboRunners, is an elementary school team made up of Lillian Gilligan, Madelyn Leete, Megan Schopp, and Jack Schopp. They are the number-one robot skills team in the United States and number six in the world. Three of the students are in fourth grade, and one is in fifth grade, at Central Grade, Silver Lake, and Willow Hill elementary schools. This will be the team's third consecutive trip to the World Championships.

Team 1313M, also nicknamed the RoboRunners, is a middle school team made up of Lizzy Eickenroth, Gabe Navarre, Whitman Stableton, and Austin Tuchalski. Two students are in sixth grade, one in seventh, and one in eighth; they attend West Middle School and homeschool. The team is the number-seven robot skills team in the United States and number 14 in the world. This is the team's first trip to the World Championship, though some members competed there while part of the elementary team in previous years.

At the high school level, two West Senior High Titan Robotics teams competed at the Michigan VEX Robotics High School State Championships at Grandville High School.  

Titan Team 3767X and Titan Team 3767A qualified to compete at the VEX World Championships in Louisville April 25-28. Titan Team 3767X, made up of sophomores Gracie Noller and Annnalysse Gronda and juniors Pierson Klein, Ian Beck, and Lukas Hazen, won the Design Award, which recognizes the team that does the best job of utilizing and presenting a professional and organized approach to the engineering and design process. 

Titan Team 3767A, made up of freshman Ben McIntyre, sophomore Tyler Stone, and junior Grace Kolbusz, won the Skills Challenge by scoring the highest points during separate 60-second driver-controlled and autonomous skills runs on the game field.  

In addition to the competitions, a new scholarship has been announced. The “Angelo and Michele Vozza More than Robots Scholarship Fund” was announced at the opening ceremonies for the FIM District FIRST Robotics Competition held at Central High School March 1-3. The new scholarship seeks to support the region’s efforts to increase the number of students pursuing higher education in STEM fields and was named in recognition of the Vozza family’s commitment to the advancement of students in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The initial awards will be given in 2019, and the minimum goal for the fund is to award a $1,000 scholarship. Additional scholarships will be added based on available funding. Additional donations to the fund are being accepted through the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation.