Season Plan for
VEX IQ Robotics Competition Team
2025-2026 Season
Last updated: 2025.February.16.Sunday
ckingknowledge Institute’s (pronounced seeking-knowledge) mission is to produce versatile engineers who advance humanity. To fulfill our mission, we propose your student participates as a member of ckingknowledge Institute’s Robotics Competition Team in the league VEX IQ Robotics Competition (VIQRC).
What?
For your students ages 9 to 15 years old, they will build a robot with their teammate in order to score points on a field. This is a real team sport. Each season the VIQRC League creates a new game. The details of the game and rules can be viewed at https://recf.org/vex-iq-robotics-competition/
Academically, they increase their grades and test scores because of the hands-on learning from applying to their robot what school teachers have already taught them. They learn how to collaborate by working in a codependent learning team. They learn
• physics,
• mechanical engineering,
• software engineering,
• the engineering design process,
• teamwork,
• note taking,
• communication,
• and soft skills
at the same time. They develop their communication skills by implementing the engineering design process to accomplish the team’s goals or get their robot to score points.
How?
Maximum of 36 students. 2-3 students per Triangle Team, 12 Triangle Teams maximum for this season, and each Triangle Team with their own robot. They will build their robot to score points on the field in one certain way. Then they choose a new way of scoring points and will have to iterate their engineering design. Then they set a new goal… and repeat this 4-step Engineering Process. With each iteration, they learn new engineering concepts while practicing math, communication, and teamwork skills. They document their decisions in their engineering notebooks to understand why they made previous engineering design decisions and to record their success milestones. The engineering notebooks are reviewed at the tournament to contribute to their ability to win a trophy.
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It is important for the Triangle Team’s Village to collaborate logistics of bringing the storage totes [provided by ckingknowledge Institute] to and from practices and tournaments. The Village are the people who care for each of the students on the Triangle Team.
The details of the game and rules can be viewed at this link to the League's host, REC Foundation : https://recf.org/vex-iq-robotics-competition/
The Season begins in September and ends in February. Team practices are on the day of your choice of one of Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday 3:30-5:15pm. There are tournaments on Saturday, once a month during October, November, December, January, February. Exact dates are to be determined.
If a team qualifies for the State Championship, practices will continue through March. If the Triangle Team qualifies for the Worlds Championship, practices will continue through April.
When?
Where?
Practices will be held at ckingknowledge Institute at 29433 Southfield Road, Southfield Michigan 48076, Suite 112
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Tournaments will be at the addresses below and others in the Metro Detroit area:
--- Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy at 1300 Giddings Rd., Pontiac, MI 48340. 20 minutes from Southfield, MI.
--- Monroe County Community College at 1555 S. Raisinville Rd, Monroe, MI 48161. 60 minutes from Southfield, MI.
--- Cranbrook Kingswood Girls Middle School at 39221 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304. 15 minutes from Southfield, MI.
Who?
This 2025-2026 season will be our eighth season coaching the ckingknowledge Robotics Competition Team. Our coaches are engineers, school teachers, and parents with many years of industry experience before becoming coaches. Everyone has an annual background check and are doing this work because we want your student to choose a career as an engineer and use their gifts to advance humanity.
Your Student Can Be A Trophy Winner
Price?
$2,566 per student.
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This can be paid in whole or monthly from January 2025 through 30 November 2025 at $2,566 / 11 months = $233.27 / month. Or from September 2025 through November 2025 : $2,566 / 3 months = $855.33 / month. Or something in-between 11-3 months.
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The $500 Registration Deposit must be paid immediately in order to complete the registration. The deposit is applied towards the total cost of $2,566. The entire $2,566 must be paid by 30 November 2025.
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Included: Team T-shirt, certificate, engineering notebooks, and pencils.
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Not included: food at tournaments, transportation to / from tournaments on the weekends.
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ckingknowledge Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and would appreciate any help fundraising, applying for grants, soliciting local businesses, or any other ideas you have to raise money for the team.
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There are no refunds.
How to sign up?
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Email will.hill@ckingknowledge.org to
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request to join the team
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say which day your student(s) will attend practice: Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday 3:30-5:15pm
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and wait to hear if there is still space available on the team.
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If there is still space available, complete the Registration Form using the button at the top of this page.
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You have 5 business days to submit the Registration Form after receiving the email saying space is still available.
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Pay a deposit of $500.00 online or by check mailed to the address at the end of this webpage. You can pay online at https://www.ckingknowledge.org/donate Please include your student(s) names in the Note for the payment by check or if paying online, check the box for “Write us a comment” and type your student’s name.
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You will receive a ‘Welcome to the Team!’ email as confirmation that the completed Registration Form and Deposit have been received.
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Complete Participant Release Form from REC Foundation and send image of signed form to 336-500-3332 or will.hill@ckingknowledge.org
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Download Participant Release Form: https://recf.org/documents/2018/03/participant-release-form.pdf/
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What's the difference?
A question we frequently get asked is why not participate in the league F.I.R.S.T.? See the comparison table below for our explanation. F.I.R.S.T. = For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll
Why should my child be an engineer?
We know you have a lot of choices for investing in your student’s education. Engineers are professional problem solvers. We teach your student that they are the ones who decides if they are an engineer or not. Once they choose that they are a professional problem solver and they exercise this brain muscle in our programs, they are unstoppable. Any problem they encounter, they will be able to apply the Engineering Process and the essential soft skills learned in our programs.
