By: Alicia Sands Lurry
Last weekend, the award-winning Henry W. Grady High School G3 Robotics team put their programming skills to the test to capture the 2018 Peachtree State District Championship in Athens.
Held on Saturday, April 6, at the University of Georgia Stegeman Coliseum, the championship victory marked a first for the Grady team, which ended its state competition with four blue banners, two qualifying tournament wins, and a qualifying Chairman’s Award. The team has also been honored twice with the Gracious Professionalism Award at the qualifying and state level.
Grady will now go on to compete with students from across the country at the FIRST Championship, April 18 – 21, in Houston, Texas.
G3 Robotics is currently ranked first in the state by qualifying points, edging out its alliance partners in Duluth and Athens, Team 1102 M’Aiken Magic. The executive leadership team includes: senior Hannah Prausnitz-Weinbaum, team captain; junior Emma Zuniga Martin, engineering operations lead; senior Jacob Salomon, non-engineering operations lead; senior Zoie Nichols, drones operations lead; and sophomore Anthony Cochran, junior varsity team captain.
Grady’s head coach Andrew Nichols said he couldn’t be more proud of his students.
“I am so proud of the members of G3,” Nichols said. “This win is the culmination of three years of hard work developing engineering, project management, and collaborative problem-solving skills. We are ranked first of 82 teams in Georgia and 98th of 4,500 teams internationally going into the FIRST Championship in Houston. This is our fourth year in a row qualifying for FIRST championships, and I am very excited to see the team excel on the ultimate level of competition.”
The mission of FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators. Elementary, middle and high school students engage in exciting, mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, which inspire innovation and foster well-rounded life capabilities, such as self-confidence, communication and leadership.
For more information about watching the FIRST championship via live stream, be sure to visit: https://www.firstchampionship.org/watch-live.
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