Middle School Robotics Team Place at Regional Championship

On Saturday, February 10, the Stephens County Middle School robotics team, including members  Easton Andrews, Emmalee Cappa, Harmoni Colon, Kennedy Hurst, Aaden Lerma, Aiden Perrin, Rylee Sorrells, Myles Segers, and Maddie Grace Turner, competed in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST LEGO League Regional Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  

FIRST is a global nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to prepare young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs. The FIRST LEGO League introduces STEM topics through hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem-solving experience through experimentation, critical thinking, coding and design skills while participating in this global robotics program.

This region covers teams from 8 states in the Southeast.  Each team competed in four categories: Robotic Games, where robots were pre-programmed to accomplish a series of missions to earn points, Core Values, where students had to show how they work as a team and as a part of their community, Robotic Design, where robots were inspected with students showing off the strongest features of their designs and programs, and the Innovation Project. 

The theme this year for the Innovation Project was ‘Masterpiece,’ which focused on how to use robotics to offer improvements to arts related issues. Students were charged with either creating a new product or taking an existing one and making changes or educating others about it. 

The Stephens County Middle School team’s innovative project, Freedom Writer, was designed with a fellow student and team member in mind. It would allow for the student who has no control over her fine motor skills to be able to color and draw with ease. 

The SCMS robotics team took first place for the Core Values and finished third overall against 22 other middle school  teams that earned a spot at the Feb. 10 tournament by winning top prizes at their respective qualifying tournament. 

This placement has allowed the SCMS robotics team to possibly advance to World’s, which will be held in Massachusetts at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute this summer. School administration and team leaders thanked the team’s sponsors, Country Financial and Farm Bureau, for sponsoring the teams’ shirts and competition meal.

Stephens County Middle School Principal Paul DeFoor told WNEG News that it was a good competition, and the results are something the team is proud of.

He added that School and district leadership is always proud of Stephens County student athletes, but said he is glad that there are options for students who are not interested or can’t play sports.

 

To learn more about the FIRST LEGO League, visit firstlegoleague.org.