How to start

If you are in the greater Downingtown area and interested in participating as a student, mentor or sponsor feel free to contact us. Build nights are usually Monday thru Thursady from 6:30-8:30pm starting in August and finishing in early March. This year we will be building at the Exton Mall.

The Vexmen operate primarily from the start of the school year at the end of August through February with additional opportunities in the spring. The goal is to build and program a robot to do well in the current year’s Vex Robotics game challenge. Due to demand we must limit club membership to those living within the Downingtown School area. We can assist you in starting a club at your school and several neighboring school districts have teams (Great Valley, Conestoga, Twin Valley)

The main opportunity to join the Vexmen is typically at the beginning of the school year or by participating in one of our spring educational classes. Beyond the first initial weeks of design, new roboteers have a much steeper learning curve and will not feel as invested in the design process working on a half built robot that was not their idea to begin with. Entering the Vexmen in the spring is a second available opportunity to learn about robotics and how to properly build a robot. However,some concepts may seem foreign at first as the class is aimed at roboteers who have completed at least one season.

We start right around the beginning of the school year to form new teams and get kids started on building a robot until the competitions beginning in January. It takes at least that long to have a well built robot. The benefits however, are great. In addition to being exposed to a great STEM based activity, student roboteers learn competition, grit, perseverance, teamwork, and determination. It is a long hard process to create a competitive robot, and we’ll help you learn. The effort you put into it will pay dividends not only with robotics but with your love of STEM based learning in the future.