Parent Teacher Magazine Gaston County Public Schools May/June 2017 | Page 9

Catawba Heights, Stanley teams win annual robotics competition
robotics coach John Stone, whose team placed first in the middle school
division.
Stone added, “This group of students has persevered when programs
didn’t work exactly the way they intended. They tweaked codes until the
robot did what they intended for it to do.”
Catawba Heights Elementary coach Jennifer Holder credits her students’
ability to work together. “When you work together as a team, you can
accomplish everything,” she said.
Stanley Middle and Catawba Heights, along with the top six scoring
teams from RoboGASTON, will advance to the Western North Carolina
Robotics Championship on April 29. The other six teams moving on to
the regional championship are Belmont Central Elementary, W.A. Bess
Elementary, Bessemer City Central Elementary, New Hope Elementary,
Pinewood Elementary, and Rankin Elementary.
Below is a list of the award winners from RoboGASTON 2017:
Catawba Heights Elementary and Stanley Middle School took overall top
honors in the sixth annual Gaston County Schools robotics competition held
Saturday, March 11 at Forestview High School.
Gaston County Schools in partnership with CyberKids Robotics and the
Gastonia East Rotary Club hosted the popular RoboGASTON academic event
that gives students an opportunity to earn points in several categories,
including robot performance, teamwork challenges, and research project
presentations.
The event was the culmination of a year of practice and learning for the
students, who have concentrated on how to build and program LEGO robots to
carry out “missions” such as lifting LEGO bricks and pushing a ball into a net.
Judges graded each team in three categories: research presentation,
teamwork, and robot runs. As part of their research presentation, each team
explored a topic r elated to animal allies.
“Our team interviewed a local beekeeper and determined robots could
help beekeepers preserve bees from possible extinction,” said Stanley Middle
Elementary Schools
Overall Champion: Catawba Heights
Overall Runner Up: Bessemer City Central
First Place Project Presentation: Lowell
Second Place Project Presentation: Kiser
First Place Teamwork: Carr
Second Place Teamwork: Rankin
First Place Robot Performance: W.A. Bess
Second Place Robot Performance: Tryon
Spirit Award: Brookside
Gracious Professionalism Award: Robinson
Judges Award: Sherwood
Sponsor Award: Faith Dibble (W.A. Bess)
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Middle Schools
n Overall Champion: Stanley
n Overall Runner Up: W.C. Friday
n Project Presentation: Belmont
n Teamwork: Holbrook
n Robot Performance: Cramerton
Summer Programs in Gaston County Schools
It’s hard to believe that summertime is only months away. We are
n Middle School Robotics Camp
already planning several summer programs to provide enrichment
opportunities for our students. Check out the list below for more information
coming!
When: August 7-11
Where: Cramerton Middle School
Who: For students in grades 6-8 for the 2017-2018 academic year.
n Summer Enrichment Camp

When: July 31 - August 3 or August 7-10 (choose one)
Time: 8:45 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. each day
Where: Belmont Middle School
Who: For students in grades 6-8 for the 2017-2018 academic year
Why: It’s a great opportunity for middle schoolers to focus on science,
creative writing, social studies, and much more.
Visit
www.gaston.k12.nc.us
for more information.
n Read to Achieve Summer Camp

When: July 10 - August 3
Who: For current first, second, and third grade students who need a
boost in reading
Where: Seven school locations across the county: Brookside,

Lingerfeldt, North Belmont, Sadler, Sherwood, Springfield, and Tryon.
Parent Teacher Magazine• May/June • 7