Career Academy robotics team headed to world competition

Published 10:00 pm Sunday, April 24, 2016

Megan Walker, a senior at Southeast Whitfield High School, along with several other members of the Career Academy’s FIRST Robotics Competition Team, will miss prom on Saturday.

The team, known as the Career Blazers Fighting Mongooses, won the All-Star Rookie competition at the FIRST Robotics state championship in Athens on April 16 and on Tuesday leaves for the World FIRST Robotics Championships in St. Louis, Mo., which will feature 180 teams from seven countries. The Fighting Mongooses is the only first-year team from Georgia competing.

FIRST is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

Lizette Porras, also a senior at Southeast, said they are missing prom for a good reason.

“It’s so worth it, we’re going to compete with people from all over the world, plus we’ll have a ‘robo prom’ there, that’s amazing,” she said.

All juniors and seniors will have a prom at The Arch, the famous landmark in St. Louis.

Other members of the team from Southeast are Betzy Cruz, Kim Huynh, Rosio Martinez, Anson McGinnis and RJ Walker, all freshmen, and Mari Martinez, a senior.

From Coahulla Creek High School are sophomore Xavier Holland, senior Elijah Pemberton and junior Deva Sabnathan.

Brandon Herman is a senior at Northwest Whitfield High School and Chloe Hutchison is an eighth-grader at New Hope Middle School.

David Moeller, CEO of the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy, said he’s proud of the team’s accomplishments.

“I’ll be the first to admit, I had no idea how far they would go,” he said.

The team was formed in January. At the time Moeller said they didn’t know how to drill a hole, let alone build a robot.

Megan Walker said good teamwork has played a role in their success.  

The mistakes the team made during district competition in March at the trade center were corrected, she said.

Walker said they learned to better communicate with each other and strategize.

Pemberton agrees.

“We did so much better, we went from Dalton getting last place to qualifying in the top eight in Kennesaw (a second regional qualifier round),” he said.

Megan Walker said she could tell the difference.

“The judges really liked us. I think we made an impression on them with our passion and enthusiasm,” she said.

Rosio Martinez said she’s glad she joined the team.

“When I first heard about robotics I thought it would be boring and we would play with little robot machines,” she said.

She learned quickly that wasn’t the case.

“I enjoy it. None of us knew how to use a drill,” she said. “Now we know how to cut things and put metal together to make robots.”

Moeller said it’s much more than building robots.

“It’s soft skills: programming, communication, analyzing data and taking instructions from strangers on the fly,” he said.

Rob Bradham, president and CEO of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, said what the team has accomplished as a Rookie team is big.

The chamber is one of many businesses and organizations that are sponsoring the team’s trip to St. Louis. Other sponsors are Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems, the Dalton Convention and Visitors Bureau, Dalton Utilities, Dow Chemical Co., Georgia United Credit Union, Shaw Industries and Whitfield County Schools.

Shaw is the team’s sponsor, and mentors from Shaw — Brian Cooksey, Conrad Fernandez and Marten Hutchison — will accompany the team to St. Louis.

According to a press release, Shaw has “provided engineering and computer integrated manufacturing expertise to coach and mentor the team as well as financial support and other in-kind donations.”

The team has also received a grant from NASA.

Bradham said the chamber is happy to help offset travel costs.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for those kids. It’s a testament not only to their intelligence, but to what we’re building at the career academy,” he said.

Bradham said what the team is doing is a “direct tie to what the workforce skills industry needs.”

“Those kids are learning a lot more than how to build a robot,” he said.

Moeller said the team is grateful for the sponsors and community support.

“When we had the initial competition in Dalton a lot of people didn’t know what robotics was,” he said.

Porras said joining the team changed so many of their lives.

“I joined late,” she said. “Seeing how much work and dedication is put in changed our lives for the better.”

Perseverance has paid off.  

“The team never stopped, they kept improving their robot and evaluating what needed to be done better,” Moeller said. “They put the hours in.”