March Madness at G.I.S.

College basketball fans wait all year for the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.

Similarly, March Madness is a special time of the year for Goshen Intermediate School’s fourth grade classes. Just like the NCAA’s 72 team tournament that ends in crowning one champion, G.I.S.’s computer lab is filled with teamwork, upsets, and crazy shots in the early spring. 

In the beginning of March, Goshen students met Dash the robot. Dash has three wheels, an arm, and two spots where ping-pong balls slide into Dash’s “hand” before taking a “shot.”

Dash the robot shoots a ball at a plastic container as students practice coding Dash to make shots.

Dash moves according to coding done by students on classroom Chromebooks. Students spent the early days of the “March Madness” project fine tuning how to make Dash move, and most importantly, making sure he was not over the free-throw line when he shot the ping-pong ball. Early on, it was clear that students were going to need some practice before they were ready for the tournament…

By mid-March, Dash was making shots in the baskets Mrs. Parchinski provided students, but it was about to get more difficult. 

Each team of students were given a name corresponding with one of the 72 teams competing in the NCAA’s March Madness men’s college basketball tournament. The teams received their college team name printed out, and it was their job to find a spot for their name on the basket- after they made them.  

A sign made of cardboard with tape holding pipe cleaners to the sign to make a hoop. The sign reads Montana is the best
Two teams of students compete to see who can make more baskets in two minutes. The students facing the camera are rebounding the shots Dash is taking and the students on the other end of the mat are refilling Dash to be able to shoot.
Dash the robot shoots at a student made basket. The basket has pipe cleaners organized into a circle with a cardboard wall holding it up behind the hoop.
Two student made baskets are next to each other. One reads Duke is the best and the other has the Illinois team name printed out with the word "Shoot!" under it.

Using cardboard and tissue boxes, students constructed their baskets while making decisions like how big the basket was, along with how the ball was retrieved after a made shot. The first round of competition was in each classroom, where the team with the most made baskets in two minutes moved on to compete against the winners of the other classes. It was a team effort to put Dash in a position to make the most baskets in the allotted time.

After the classroom round, the winners met in the final round held in the auditorium to crown the champion.

A view from behind the students in the crowd that are cheering on their classmates on stage.
Two students in Goshen jerseys are sitting near Dash during the competition.
A crowd of students is watching the stage and holding up signs as they cheer on their classmates who are competing for the championship.
Students on stage are competing for the March Madness championship as they sit on stage near Dash the robot and their mat.
Three girls put their team name in the championship spot on the bracket on the wall.

The crowd cheered throughout the championship rounds for their classmates as they competed for the top spot.

Congratulations to Goshen Intermediate School’s 2025 March Madness champions: Josephine Cannella, Sophia De Venuto and Lea Galin on Missouri!

Josephine Cannella, Sophia De Venuto and Lea Galin hold up their March Madness Champions sign.
Mrs. Meocci's class poses with the champions in the background holding up their sign.
Missouri, the championship team, working together to make Dash shoot the ball and rebound the ball as the fastest team in G.I.S.

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