Behind this excitement is CIJE, the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education, an organization dedicated to bringing high-quality STEM education to Jewish schools across the country. CIJE works with more than 200 schools nationwide and supports over 40,000 students learning about engineering and technology. Through its hands-on robotics program, students design, build, and program their own robots while developing critical skills such as collaboration, perseverance, and problem-solving.

Each year, teams compete in a new robotics challenge that requires strategic thinking and creative engineering. This year’s game tasks robots with stacking cup-shaped pieces called pins to score points. Teams earn bonus points for creating stacks with multiple colors or for placing stacks into matching goals. The most difficult element is the beam piece, which is worth even more points and requires advanced robot design and precise driving to successfully complete.

“It’s inspiring to see so many students from different schools come together through robotics,” said Joseph Saltzman, CIJE Maryland Program Manager. “Students approach the challenge with creativity and determination. It’s amazing to see how their engineering skills develop as they design, build, and improve their robots. The tournament is a wonderful showcase of their hard work.”

This year, Baltimore hosted a special CIJE Robotics Week, featuring two exciting tournaments including the first ever CIJE Girls Tournament in Baltimore. The girls’ competition took place on Monday at Bais Yaakov Baltimore, followed by the boys’ tournament on Tuesday at Talmudical Academy. Together, the events brought nearly 300 students from many schools to the playing field. Participating schools included local Baltimore schools of BY, BT, OCA, TA, TI, and YTS at their respective events. They were also joined by visiting teams from several New Jersey schools.

Hosting the girls’ competition marked an important milestone for Bais Yaakov Baltimore’s growing robotics program and highlighted the dedication and talent of its students. Over the past months, teams spent countless hours designing, building, and programming their robots in preparation for the tournament. The event was uplifting with students and coaches helping out teams from other schools in the spirit of collaboration and teamwork.

The Bais Yaakov eighth grade teams took on the ambitious challenge of building advanced robots capable of scoring the game’s most difficult element – and every one of their teams succeeded. Bais Yaakov came in fourth place and their girls left the tournament energized and eager to continue improving. In fact, as soon as the competition ended, many of the girls rushed back to begin planning and practicing for the final tournament in May.

Mrs. Rochelle Goldberg, Bais Yaakov’s robotics coach, reflected on the event with pride. “It was a wonderful event, very fun,” she said. “The girls are motivated to improve and are looking forward to the next event.” She also expressed gratitude to CIJE for running the event and Dr. Joseph Saltzman for all his support and guidance.

RPRY captured first place in the girls’ tournament after months of refining their robot. Team member Ava shared that this victory was especially meaningful. “This is the first time I’ve won a medal at CIJE robotics,” she said. This was the third robot they built this season as they continued to learn from their experience, improve, and rebuild to improve their performance and strategy. Her teammate Hadassah agreed, adding, “Robotics is such an amazing experience – you get to learn about engineering and how to be a good sport.”

The excitement continued the following day at TA, where the boys gathered for their tournament. Rabbi Yakov Majeski, TA’s principal, reflected on how the event has grown over the years. Having helped launch the Baltimore boys’ robotics tournament in its early days, he marveled at how much the program has expanded and expressed his enthusiasm about hosting the CIJE event once again. Dr. Insel, TI’s General Studies Coordinator, also thanked CIJE for bringing this opportunity to their students, noting that the robotics tournament is always a highlight of the year.

The boys’ competition featured strong performances from all participating schools. It was particularly impressive that all the teams from YTS and OCA advanced to the finals. In the final standings, BT and TA tied for second place, while Torah Institute secured third place. The high level of preparation and determination showed across the board. It also showed in the event itself with TI coach, Mr. Kanter, remarking how wonderfully and professionally CIJE ran the tournament.

As teams packed up their robots and headed home, many were already thinking about how to refine their designs and strategies for the next competition. For these budding engineers, the learning – and the fun – is just getting started.

OCA Boys

OCA Girls

TI

YTS

BT

BT Girls

TA

BY Robot