Elementary Robotics and Regional Competitions 2017

   Robotics in Moore County this year has definitely stepped it up a notch. Not only did we continue to provide showcases and competitions for our elementary and middle school students, but we extended the invitation out to other counties. We held our first regional competitions this year, which were a great success! The elementary competitions were held back to back on Friday, May 12th and Saturday, May 13th. All of the participants did such an outstanding job and it is apparent that robotics has exploded through the region.

   

  

  

   This year in addition to holding the robotics part of the competition, we introduced a Dash competition as well. Students were able to showcase their knowledge in navigating their Dash robot through a series of challenges on map like mat. This competition was hosted by Digital Facilitators (DIF's) Kelly Priest, Clint Rogers, and Kim Collazo. They did an outstanding job of building up our younger kids coding skills, to prepare them for robotics in the coming years! 

We had our first every Dash competition!

   Scotland County gladly joined the challenge and at least one team from EVERY elementary school participated in our elementary competition. The Scotland county Superintendent and many other county members were in attendance and it was evident that they had a great time enjoying their students learn, struggle, and then succeed. From speaking with Superintendent Ron Hargrave, he stated that, "we have many students that have struggled academically this year. As soon as they started with robotics we noticed a change in their behavior and motivation." That is such a refreshing and heart warming statement to hear as a Moore County Digital Integration Facilitator. It is what we all strive for! We are hoping in the next year that more counties will attend our regional competitions. 

North Laurinburg Polar Bears

 So much can be learned from participating in a robotics competition. Not only did the teams display teamwork and cooperation, but complex problem solving and engineering, which is at the heart of Moore County's principles. Thank you to all of our schools, teachers, and staff that participated in these extraordinary events!

MCS Regional Elementary Competition

~Deanna Boesch