FIRST Robotics competition held at Gulfport High
Fourteen high school robotics teams from across southern Mississippi and Louisiana were on hand Saturday at the 2nd annual Beach Bot Battle at Gulfport High School.
Mississippi Power once again sponsored the FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Robotics teams in its service territory to support STEM education and programs.
“The Beach Bot Battle provides an opportunity for all the FIRST teams that we sponsor, and other teams in the area, to hone their robotic skills and learn from each other,” Regulatory Research and Analysis Manager Donna Van Loon said. “The goal of this program is to inspire these students to be science and technology leaders at their schools.”
2018 marks the 27th year of FIRST competitions, with more than 91,000 students participating in the United States, Canada, China, Australia and beyond.
“Competitions like these allow students to take what they learn in the classroom and turn that knowledge into a functioning robot,” Community Development Representative Ann Holland said. “You can see the passion they have for this competition because they’ve been involved in the design, construction and operation of their robots.”
Clint Brawley, an advisor for Gulfport High’s Team Fusion, said having events like the Beach Bot Battle in the state are important as more and more schools add a Robotics program.
“Ideally, we’d love to have FIRST Robotics in every school district in Mississippi,” Brawley said. “FIRST has a progression of programs available from Lego League robotics in Kindergarten through the 8th grade, the Technical Challenge robotics league is for 6th to 12th graders, and the Robotics Competition league is for high schoolers.”
Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for nearly 187,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. With nearly 160 megawatts of approved solar energy capacity, Mississippi Power is the largest renewable energy partner in the state. Visit our websites at mississippipower.com and mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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