Teams: App Dev, Chess, Robotics, Rocketry

App Development

This team opportunity was pursued due to the popularity of our Scratch and Python classes.  Team members are in 7th grade or above.  https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/students/rules/

Chess

Each spring at the Queen City Classic Chess Tournament our Super Saturday Knights compete under the leadership of teacher Kevin Coleman.  If you would like to arrange meet-ups for your children to play chess, try reaching out to other TSSP parents via our private Facebook group, The Super Saturday Program Community.

Robotics

Starting this 2025-26 season, Super Saturday students are participating in eight robotics teams!  Due to the popularity of our LEGO Mindstorms Robotics class, TSSP volunteers have been surveying interest in robotics teams, developing a sponsorship plan, and collecting contact info of potential team members.  Our dynamo rocketry teacher has now been successful in recruiting coaches.  We held an information meeting during GCE sessions on 1/25/25 and emailed those who previously expressed an interest in participating.  Important information shared at the meeting was posted to our private Facebook group, The Super Saturday Program Community.

FIRST LEGO League
TSSP is sponsoring three new FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge level teams and one new Explore level team for our Super Saturday students.

Preseason activities began 2/23/25.  Team selections were completed in May and registrations filed in early August.  Tournaments for Challenge level teams begin in November.  The length of the season depends on how far teams progress through regional, state, and championship levels.  The State competition is held in March and the FIRST Championship is in April.

VEX Robotics Competitions
TSSP is sponsoring one new VEX IQ elementary school team. Thanks to a grant from Google through the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation and the organizational efforts of Mason area parents, we have been able to help start three V5 teams for middle school age students.

We appreciate the Hillsboro High School team for visiting us on 4/12/25 to show us their robot, the field of play, and the objectives of the year’s game called High Stakes. They talked to us about VEX and what they learned along the way to their qualification for the 2024-25 season world championship. Afterward, there was additional interest in participating in robotics teams from our older students.

To express an interest in participating in robotics in the 2026-27 season and to get updates, email us at marketing@supersaturday.org.  We would be delighted to hear from people interested in coaching or who have coached in the past and want to contribute.  We are also welcoming into mentorship roles any teens who have previously participated in FLL or VEX.

Rocketry

Beginning with the 2025 season, we had two teams competing in the American Rocketry Challenge (TARC).  Teams were composed of dedicated 6th graders and up from our classes It Is Rocket Science, Advanced Rocketry, and Master Rocketry and are coached by our teachers Shirley Lee and Ryan Cheng.  Teams scored 2nd and 3rd place at the Ohio Regional Cup.  For the 2026 season, we are anticipating four teams of Super Saturday students.

If you or your organization is interested in helping to sponsor teams, please contact us at marketing@supersaturday.org. Sponsors will be acknowledged with logo placement on our website, banners displayed at class site and outreach events, team t-shirts, and social media posts.