Team 1715C of the RoboHillers, Hopkinton Middle School’s Robotics team, is heading to the VEX IQ Southern New England Championship tournament in March.

On Jan. 21, 16 VEX IQ teams braved the cold weather to compete in the VEX UQ Next Level Challenge, a worldwide challenge that combines programming skills, individual skills and teamwork competition skills. Team 1715C came away with the Design Award and the Teamwork Challenge Award, shared by Team 24036S, St. Stan’s Robotics Club from Fall River.

The RoboHillers are coached by Patricia Allen, a local parent, who relies on parents to work with the 63 middle school student members. They have seven teams this year, including an all-girl team, and meet after school on Thursdays in the HMS cafeteria.

“I am so proud of all our students for working hard, problem-solving and challenging themselves to learn new skills,” Allen said. “This is a large group, so sometimes it can feel chaotic in here. I couldn’t do it without Mrs. Blair, the Kellys and all the parents who volunteered during the two competitions we hosted this season.”

At their previous competition on Dec. 8, Team 1715C won the Excel- lence Award and Outstanding STEM Research Project Award for its video on how to calculate instantaneous speed. All team members are excited to cheer on their friends as Team 1715C hopes to do well in March and qualify for VEX Worlds in April.