Don't miss the Oak Park Education Foundation's exciting competition between Julian & Brooks students, who have been designing, building and programming their robots since October! The 6th annual middle school Vex Robotics Competition will take place at 9:00 am on Saturday, February 5, in the Julian gym, 416 S. Ridgeland in Oak Park. It's open to the public.

The Oak Park Education Foundation's Vex Robotics program is open to all 6th, 7th and 8th grade students at both Julian and Brooks — no experience required. Students work closely with teachers as well as professional engineers and other adults who volunteer their time and expertise to help them think and build like engineers.

This year's competition, called "Round Up," is a game that challenges robots to move plastic tubes onto goal posts, and to climb a ladder in the center of the field. This is the first year that District 97 students are participating in the official Vex competition, so that students who do well in the District 97 event can go on to compete in a regional competition the following weekend.

Round Up will include short competitions between remote-controlled robots as well as rounds featuring robots that operate autonomously.

Come one, come all, and bring the kids! The gym will be filled with cheering onlookers. There will be a projection screen for great viewing, an emcee and DJ, food for sale, and Rosie the $4 million telemedicine robot from Gottlieb Memorial Hospital on display. The event is sponsored by Aria Group Architects.

Founded in 1989, the Oak Park Education Foundation is an independent nonprofit that brings enrichment programs, and experts from the arts, sciences and engineering, into District 97 schools. In addition to Vex Robotics, we run Art Start (visiting artists), Geared Up (engineering with Legos), Global Village (visiting scientists) and Architecture Adventure (visiting architects).