Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
There's been big news for the Homeschooler's Association Robotics Team this month, and this group of dedicated youths have been busy!
“I am super proud to announce that our Robotics Team won a Wild Card bid to the Regional Championship!” stated Tammy Brookins, president of the Jefferson County Homeschool Association. “This takes place on Feb. 26, time and location to be announced. ” She extended her gratitude toward the coaches of the team, and asks for the community to join her in prayer for the robotics team's continued success. “Congratulations to the team!” she said.
The Robotics team, called the “Lightning Builders,” consists of five students and two coaches, and has been working on programming a robot and adding Lego attachments to complete pre-assigned missions since August of last year. They are registered with FIRST Lego League, which is a national organization that strives to teach young students aged nine to 14 about programing, teamwork, problem solving and more. The team members, Charles Boyd, James Boyd, Josh Holley, Ashdon Marchant and Julian Padron, led by coaches Glen Hughes and Heather Boyd, have had several exercises in their robotics projects. In December, they attended a practice competition in Panama City, where they went head to head with 30 other robotics teams, and won second place in the Robot Games! This led them to a qualifier tournament in January, where they competed again in the hopes of passing on to the regional championship. The Lightning Builders, however, had some difficulties with their project, and did not score well enough to advance, but were entered into a drawing that would give them a second chance at regionals.
Happily, the team won a wild-card bid and will officially be advancing to the regional championship this February! If they score high enough in the regionals, they will proceed to compete at the state level!
Additionally, the team has been focused on a real life innovation project. The innovation project is intended for teams to identify real-world problems and come up with a solution to help solve the problem. This year's theme is “Cargo Connect,” having to do with transportation. The Lightning Builders have noticed the real-world problem of congestion on the roads with delivery trucks. Their innovation project entails a tunnel system containing a magnet railway that will be used to deliver packages instead of semi trucks. After receiving positive feedback from the judges, they are now looking for people who may be able to move the idea forward.
“This team has grown and learned so much this year!” says Jefferson County Homeschool Association Vice-President and Robotics Coach Heather Boyd, “When they began, none of the boys had any programming experience. They've learned to put together Legos, motors, sensors, gears and programming to accomplish the missions.”
“Who knows?” she added, “Maybe in a few years, we will be receiving packages that traveled through an underground railway!”
Congratulations to the Lightning Builders! Good luck at the regional championship!
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