NH DOE to Host 2nd Annual Cyber Robotics Coding Competition

DERRY – The New Hampshire Department of Education and the Intelitek STEM and CTE Education Foundation (ISCEF) will being teaming up again to hold a statewide Cyber Robotics Coding Competition (CRCC) from mid-October to mid-December. Sponsored by Intelitek, and Oracle Academy, the CRCC is an eight-week virtual coding competition that provides students and educators with the opportunity to build STEM related skills using a cloud-based simulation platform featuring a virtual, 3D-animated robot. New Hampshire was the first state to hold the competition. In doing so, it gave rise to an international phenomenon that has resulted in more than 30,000 students all over the world participating in similar events.

"CRCC is learning as it is meant to be," said Frank Edelblut, the commissioner of the NH DOE. "Students could not be more engaged. They are not only building coding skills, but creativity and innovative capacity to solve problems. This year, they will be competing with students from around New Hampshire and around the world and will be able to challenge themselves even further. Ido and I share a vision to see a million students participating in this event in the next five years."

In the first New Hampshire CRCC, held at the end of 2017, more than 2,500 students in middle and high schools throughout the state used CoderZ, a cloud-based coding platform to compete in over 80 different and challenging robotics missions. In addition to winning prizes for inclusiveness, faculty participation and diversity, the top schools competed in a grand finale competition for the best middle school, best high school and a grand prize called the Governor’s Award, which included a trophy and a $2,000 grant (Gallery).

"The NH DOE has an inspiring vision of preparing its students – not just for the current 21st century – but for the 22nd century," said Ido Yerushalmi, CEO of Intelitek. "As part of that goal, they are continually looking for ways to engage students in rigorous, relevant and integrated learning STEM experiences, including computer science. The first competition demonstrated that CRCC is a great way to motivate students and expose them to STEM – kids were even logging in to our software platform from home – and we are delighted to be helping support their vision."

The NH CRCC grand finale round will take place in the week of December 3rd at one of the state's universities.

For more information on CRCC competitions go http://iscefoundation.org/nh-crcc/ or contact Joshua Schuler, Director of CRCC at ISCEF at jschuler@iscefoundation.org.

Parties interested in organizing Cyber Robotics Competitions for their school, district or state can contact ISCEF at info@iscefoundation.org.