LA PLATA, Md. (January 20, 2011) — Nine Charles County Public Schools teams earned top awards at the “Math in Real Life” robotics challenge held Saturday, Dec. 18, at North Point High School. Schools from Charles, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties competed in the event, which is part of the Naval Warfare Center and National Defense Education Program in-school robotics program.
Student teams built and programmed robots to compete in eight challenges, as well as conducted research projects about environmentally friendly housing and equipment. Teams were judged on their performance in the robotics challenges, teamwork performance, technical mathematic abilities, a research project and bean bag launch exercises.
At the elementary level, the “Higdon Spartans” team from Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School earned first place in the teamwork category. All participating teams were interviewed and evaluated on their ability to work together as a team. Team members are fifth graders Jack Chipps, Ethan Ganter, James Hume, Skye Taylor, Hana Shadid and Gavin Stoddard.
An additional team from Higdon, the “Higdon Green Machine,” earned third place in the teamwork category. Members include fifth graders Madison Mote, Kody Ellison, Tyler Getgen, Will Gordon, Jordan Mendez and Joshua Young.
The “Higdon Green Goblins” won first place in the research project category. In this area of the competition, student teams were judged on their ability to present their research project, and their knowledge of the environmentally friendly aspects included in their presentations. Team members include fifth graders Robert Delozier, Gino Gerow, Cathrine Jarek, Morgan Leonard and Zachary Roy.
The “Waldorf Engineers” team from William B. Wade Elementary School earned second place in the technical interview category, in which students are given six math problems to solve. Team members are fifth graders Steven Castro-Lee, Archie Davis, Ryan Forson, Vanessa Dillard and Calla Ziebell.
The “Flying Squirrels” team from Higdon earned third place in the technical interview category. Members are fifth graders Shaun Burroughs, Joshua Foote, Jordan Griffith, Julianne Moore, Cameron Stanley and Catherine Wickens.
Two county teams, the “Higdon Pithons” and the “J.P. Ryon Electronics,” placed in the bean bag launch challenge. The challenge requires students to hit a target located between 20 ft. to 100 feet. The Higdon team earned second place; the Ryon team won third place.
Higdon’s team includes fifth graders Ricky Bradshaw, Nicholas Bowman, Reid Everett, Asia Hines, Devin Ruble and Kyle Wedding. The Ryon team is composed of fifth graders Natasha Zarvas, Damariz Davila, Camryn Thompson, Skyler Wells, Sophia Tiller, Dale Garvin and Dylan Coleman.
Additionally, two teams from Piccowaxen Middle School placed at the middle school level. The “Devil Robots” and “Robo Blackcats” teams tied for third place in the bean bag launch challenge. The Devil Robots team includes seventh graders Sidney Saunders, Justin Ryan, David Scroggs, Kayla Pesante, Danielle Murray and Lilly Reese. Seventh-grade students Reese Mona, Courtney Murphy, Tre Mason, Jamaal Mahoney, Joseph Keese and Tyler Koch comprise the Robo Blackcats team.
Source: Charles County Public School System