Some East Valley middle-schoolers are celebrating after being named World Champions in a robotics competition.
The team is made up of seventh- and eighth-graders at Arizona College Prep and Basha Middle School. They spent the past year preparing for the Vex Robotics World Championship, which required them to program a robot to perform different challenges.
Over the weekend, the team took home the top prize for the middle school category.
ABC15 spoke with the teens about the hard work it took for them to get there.
“There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs. It will really prepare you for really anything you choose to do in life. You’ll have to persevere a lot," said eighth-grader Rohan Vallamshetla.
“It’s worth it, it’s all worth it," said eighth-grader Sidharth Kanderi. "It shows hard work really pays off. You put in the hours, you try really hard, and you can get these big rewards and you can do really well."
The competition was held virtually, with over 1,500 teams competing in 70 countries.