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Upper School Robotics Team Triumphs in NJ Edge League Tournament, Advances to State Championships

On February 16, the Upper School MKA Robotics Team competed in the NJ Edge League Championship Tournament. The team was led by co-advisors Jessica Leiken and Jo-rel Wilkins (who also served as a referee for the meet), and supported by Head of Upper School David C. Flocco, Ed.D., Mathematics and Computer Science Department Chair and Teacher Dennis Hu, and Director of STEM+ Programming (Pre-K through eighth grade) Chris McLaughlin.

Not only did the team win all of their matches, but they also finished in second place and moved on to the elimination rounds. In alliance with West Caldwell Tech’s “Beaks and Bolts” who finished in first place, the team won all their elimination matches. The drivers for this meet were Max Goldberg-Spar  ’27, Tim Slater ’25, Paxton Nthikasem ’25, and Charlotte Gardiner ’27.

Additional highlights of the meet:

  • Achieved the highest-scoring match of the day (268 pts) which is also the fourth-highest-scoring match in NJ
  • Undefeated record (8-0)
  • Won several prestigious awards
    • Design Award (First place)
    • Inspire Award (Second place)
    • Winning Alliance Award

MKA Robotics has earned a spot in the NJ State Championship which will take place in Hillsborough, NJ on Sunday, March 16. Congratulations to the team led by senior captains Paxton Nithikasem '25, Alexa Kahn ’25, Tim Slater ’25, and Sam Lewis ’25.

The Design Award celebrates the team that demonstrates industrial design principles, striking a balance between form, function, and aesthetics. The design process used should result in a robot that is efficiently designed and effectively addresses the game challenge.

The Inspire Award winner is an inspiration to other teams, acting with Gracious Professionalism® both on and off the playing field. This team shares their experiences, enthusiasm, and knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community, and the judges. Working as a unit, this team will have shown success in performing the task of designing and building a robot.

The Winning Alliance Award is given to the winning Alliance represented in the final match.