From Tank Battle to International Championship: Peter & Angie

Here’s a recent photo from the 2024 Kalahari Classic International Robotics Tournament. Peter, standing in the center, was the captain of the Canadian team that won the championship. Angie, another student of mine, was also part of the same winning team.

Angie started learning with me just last year.
Peter, on the other hand, met me in Grade 4.

Back in 2020, Peter was the winner of our internal project Tank Battle, a coding and animation challenge I designed for 13 of my students. They used Swift on iOS or Java on Windows to create tanks that could move, think, and fight. Peter’s tank used an angled track system and conquered the field — and the hearts of his fellow students:
Peter's Tank Battle (2020)

Before that, he also created a stunning piece of digital art using over 100 triangles to abstract a black-and-white cat — with a tiny green frog by its side. Under them was a dark red corduroy mat, whose texture Peter rendered convincingly using rows of parallel lines. His love of cats and his artistic eye came through powerfully in this early work:
Peter’s Cat Project (2019)

We can’t fast-forward a child’s growth.
But when we start early — with curiosity, challenge, and the right guidance — something steady and strong builds up from within.

And one day, that quiet foundation becomes something the world can see.