A standout performance in the Skills category at the VEX V5 Robotics Competition in Basel has earned TASIS Tigers 2 a spot at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas, on May 6–8. This marks the third time in four years that Coach Amy Bloodworth’s program has produced a team that will represent Switzerland on the world stage!
An outstanding performance in the Skills category at the VEX V5 Robotics Competition in Basel on February 28–March 1 has earned TASIS Tigers 2, a High School Robotics team at TASIS The American School in Switzerland, a spot at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas, on May 6–8. Congratulations to Coach Amy Bloodworth and team members Cruz Huang ’28, Laith Johnson ’26, Juan Francisco Soldavini ’25, Taha Taassob ’27, Aleksandr Vasilev ’26, and Mingcheng Zhang ’26 for this incredible achievement!
This marks the latest triumph for Coach Bloodworth’s Robotics Program, which saw the the Middle School team of Serafina Ballerini ’26, Olivia Canga ’26, Maddy Costa Felix ’26, Mariaurora Rosso ’24, and Diana Xiao ’26 represent Switzerland at the FIRST Championship World Festival in Houston, Texas, in 2022 and the High School team of Canga, Costa Felix, Rosso, Camille Girotto ’24, Chuqiao Huang ’24, and Yixin Lu ’27 compete in the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas, the following spring.
The annual VEX Robotics World Championship—the largest robotics competition in the world—brings together the top VEX IQ Robotics Competition, VEX V5 Robotics Competition, and VEX U Robotics Competition teams from around the globe to celebrate their accomplishments and participate in a series of competitions with the ultimate goal of being crowned world champions.
Ms. Bloodworth, who was the recipient of the 2016 Khan-Page Master Teacher Award, noted that the Swiss competition is more competitive than ever and that this year’s team stood out with its creativity, excellence in engineering design, and outstanding programming skills. In Dallas, the young roboticists hope to deliver a strong Skills performance—surpassing the score they achieved in the Swiss qualifiers—and perform well enough in the qualifying rounds to secure an alliance selection.
“While we recognize that this will be a formidable challenge, as we will be competing against the world’s top teams from the USA and Asia, this team is ready and eager to rise to the occasion,” said Ms. Bloodworth, who has been at the cutting edge of STEM education for the past decade. “With at least two more years before these students age out of the competition, this team is only at the beginning of what promises to be an exciting and rewarding journey.”
Studying robotics provides students with a crucial foundation for navigating the increasingly technological future. By working in teams to design, build, and program robots, students develop the essential skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative design while learning how to collaborate and communicate effectively. In Ms. Bloodworth’s estimation, the TASIS Robotics Program has found so much success because it is primarily student-driven, empowering students to take full ownership of their journey.
“This autonomy challenges them to reach their highest potential, making their achievements even more rewarding,” said Ms. Bloodworth. “While winning is a welcome bonus, the true goal of the program is to stretch students beyond the curriculum, expanding their knowledge and skills in physics, mathematics, and computing. The school’s support in terms of funding, space, time, and encouragement has been invaluable in enabling the program to achieve its goals.”
The pursuit of robotics also helps students build adaptability and resilience, as they must learn to overcome challenges and embrace iterative design processes. As automation and artificial intelligence continue to transform industries, a background in robotics equips students with the technical literacy and practical experience they’ll need to thrive in the future.
“The incredible run of success our Robotics Program has had under Amy’s leadership demonstrates that TASIS students are learning to apply their deep academic knowledge and skills to meet the real-world challenges of today and the future,” said Christopher Nikoloff, who has served as Headmaster at TASIS since 2017. “We are incredibly proud of the hard work and highly impressive results.”
With robotics now extending all the way down to the Elementary School level at TASIS, Ms. Bloodworth sees no reason why the program can’t continue to excel and reach even greater heights.
“One of the things I love about the TASIS Robotics Program is that students gain so much from the experience that they become deeply committed to inspiring younger students to pursue their passion for robotics, fostering a strong culture of mentorship and innovation,” she said. “As long as students are passionate about robotics and eager to continue, I will be here to support and encourage them.”
STEM Education at TASIS
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is crucial for fostering innovation and preparing students for the demands of the 21st-century workforce, and TASIS’s first-rate teachers have risen to the challenge of providing students with the critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills they’ll need to tackle complex challenges. Visit our website to learn more about STEM education at TASIS.
