By Amanda Pevey

Elmore/Autauga News

SEE PHOTO GALLERY BELOW.

On January 21^st the VEX IQ Slap Shot Competition for Middle and Elementary Schools was held at the Wetumpka High School gymnasium.

Virginia Vilardi PhD, Wetumpka High School Science Department Chair, helped organize the event with student volunteers from STEM Competition Team the NERDS.

Students signed up for many different roles, some which required training and testing to be certified. Over 40 teams competed at the “Slap-Shot” event and its one of the largest to date in Elmore County.

Wetumpka Elementary, Wetumpka Middle, and Redland Middle School co-hosted the event. Before the event, a grant for $24,343.06 was presented from MID-SOUTH RC&D COUNCIL.

Special guests included Senator Will Barfoot, County Commissioner Desirae Lewis-Jackson, School Board Member Wendell Saxon, Judges from the United States Space Force including Lt. Col Joan Thompson, Lt. Col Tanisha Saunders, and Major Celeste Oliver. Also in attendance was Elmore County School Superintendent Richard Dennis and area district leaders. After the competition was finished, a total of seven awards were presented.

The “Slap Shot” description is played on a 6’ x 8’ rectangular field. The object of the game is to score points by removing discs from dispensers, by placing discs into goal zones, and by getting contact bonuses at the end of the match. In the Teamwork Challenge, an alliance composed of two robots works together to score as many points as possible in a 60 second match. Teams may also compete in Robot Skills Challenge matches, where each robot tries to score as many points as possible.

“I would like to start out with a quote, ‘In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure; from Albert Einstein,” said Tracy Wright, STEM Coordinator for Elmore County Public Schools.

Wright continued, “I feel this is an especially purposeful quote due to technical issues we had at the start of our VEX-IQ Middle/Elementary Robotics Competition. Unfortunately, these technical issues delayed the start for a little more than an hour. We teach the engineering design process which encircles the prospect of failure to our students. A huge component of not allowing failure to be the end result is problem-solving. By using the very principles we teach our students, we were able to problem-solve the issues and get the event rolling! As a group, we worked together and it ended on a great note. We will continue to make strides in the world of STEM to ensure our students have the best possible chances of success in this ever-growing technical world.”

In all, 41 teams came out to the “Slap Shot” event which is the largest one to be held in Elmore County. More than half of the teams came from out of the district. This speaks to the growth of Elmore County’s STEM program in the state of Alabama’s STEM Community.

“I’m excited about the growth of our robotics program in Elmore County,” said Superintendent Richard Dennis.

Dennis continued, “I am very grateful to Midsouth RC&D for the Grant.

It was to buy all the equipment for Elmore County Schools to host robotics tournaments and a trailer to house and transport. This enables our school system to take our program to the next level and compete more effectively. Our students can now practice in-county with our own equipment and host events of our own.”

AWARDS PRESENTED:

JUDGES AWARD- TEAM #67558B BUTTERFINGERS