A Cherokee County School District team won at a statewide robotics championship!

Sequoyah High School’s team earned runner-up at the Georgia FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, the highest finish for any CCSD team since the competition began. 

The team is coached by Brent Hollers, who teaches career classes at Sequoyah HS and i-Grad Virtual Academy, and parent Lisa Lougheed.  Team members are: Levi Auman, Brandon Buckley, Jordan Buckley, Lily Carras, Bryson Cobb, Gavin Dayton, Xavier Feldman, Micah Gray, Eric Hu, Colin Kennel, Brett Lougheed, Julian Noaker, Bryson Partin, Joseph Thomas, Lucas Thoroughman, Shane Webb and Fernando Zapata.

“Congratulations to these skilled and dedicated students and their outstanding coaches for representing their school and our community with excellence,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower said.  “Clubs and teams that offer students additional ways, beyond the classroom, to hone and demonstrate career skills are important opportunities that we’re proud to offer in all of our high schools.  We’re very thankful to the teachers, parents, business partners and volunteers who support these programs.”

The national FIRST Robotics Competition program gives teams of high school students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in building and programming industrial-size robots to complete specific tasks.  For this year’s competition scenario, teams were tasked with using “innovative engineering, creative thinking, and teamwork to reimagine the future of safe, high-speed travel, and lightning-fast deliveries to propel the next evolution of transportation forward – in this world and beyond.”  Judges assess the robot’s design and effectiveness and the team’s collaboration and determination.