He Mea Pau'ole Ke Aloha

Mahalo nui to all of our grantors and sponsors that made it possible for us to again represent our League, Island, County and State at the U.S. Championships!



Video history of 434 from the past.


Story

Team 434 is the VEX IQ Robotics team under the STEM Robotics program of Molokai Middle School. We are 7th and 8th grade students and teachers that actually make up four individual teams known as Team 434K Kalo Farmers, Team 434M Menehune Farmers, Team 434N Na'iwa Warriors, and Team 434P Palaau Fishermen. 

We just concluded another successful 2018-2019 regular season of events, and have been blessed with the following awards respectively:

1. 2018 Lahaina VEX IQ Tournament
     A. Build Award: 434M
     B. Middle School Design Award: 434M
     C. Tournament Champion 2nd Place Award: 434M
     D. Tournament Champion 1st Place Award: 434K 

2. STEM Day @ MMS/Molokai VEX IQ League Championships 
     A. Amaze Award: 434N
     B. Build Award: 434M
     C. Design Award: 434K
     D. Tournament Champion 1st Place: 434K
     E. Tournament Champion 1st Place: 434N

3. Hawaii State Middle School VEX IQ Championships
     A. Tournament Champion 2nd Place: 434N 
     B. Tournament Champion 3rd Place: 434K          

While traveling to these events, we were also blessed to visit, support, and network with familiar and additional VEX IQ teams on Molokai, Maui, and Oahu as part of our ongoing Service-Learning mission to promote and sustain Robotics and STEM Education in Hawaii.

Our theme and motto for the 2018-2019 season comes from the  ‘Olelo "He Mea Pau'ole Ke Aloha" or "Charity Never Faileth." It has been our founding philosophy-and our ongoing testimony--that our commitment to give service back to our school communities is our cultural "Kuleana" (responsibility), and that this very effort continues to bring us blessings of achievement and success. 

Our first year of success in 2013-2014 was met with overwhelming community support and aloha--that started the cycle in which we gave back, and continue to give back, as part of our Kuleana to Hawaii and its keiki.  That led to 434 creating several signature entities and events including: 1) STEM Day @ MMS Championship Event Series in 2015 that qualify Molokai teams directly to state and national championship events without having to leave the island; 2) Molokai VEX IQ Leage (MVIQL) in 2016 for all of Molokai's elementary and middle schools, becoming the first K-8 Robotics program in Hawaii with one-hundred percent participation by all schools in the geographic region; 3)  Molokai Robotics League (MRL) in 2016 as the first K-12 Robotics program in Hawaii with one-hundred percent participation by all K-12 schools in the geographic region;   4) STEM:Molokai Consortium in 2017 to support K-12 STEM and Robotics schools and programs on Molokai; and 5) Molokai STEM Fest: Molokai Community Open Robotics Competition in 2019 to also support K-12 STEM and Robotics schools and programs on Molokai.

At this time, Team Kalo and Team Naiwa have once again advanced to the post-season and will be traveling to the 2019 CREATE U.S. Open Robotics Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  They will be part of the local contingent of only five teams from among ninety-four representing the State of Hawaii in the Middle School Division.  We are happy and honored to continue to repesent our school, island, county, and state at this event, and hope to make everyone proud.

To help send Team Kalo and Team Naiwa to Nationals, we have again started this GoFundMe Campaign. The funds raised will be used for travel to the Council Bluffs, Iowa from March 29th to April 5th. The event will be held at the Mid America Center, and can be viewed on the webcast tab of the site. If you wish to support--and continue to support--Teams 434 in their ongoing goals of excellence and service, please support this effort.

For those who prefer, donations can be mailed and made payable to:

Molokai Middle School Team 434
PO Box 443
Hoolehua, HI 96729

Organization Tax ID: 99-0266482

For more information, go to the following links:
VEX IQ Next Level Challenge 
Molokai Robotics League Facebook Page 
STEM Robotics Facebook Page 
Molokai Middle School HomePage