Mount Paran Christian School hosted the 2020 Western Georgia FIRST® Tech Challenge League Tournament in the school’s Hughes Gymnasium this past Saturday, January 25. Thirty teams from Western and Northwestern Georgia, including the Etowah and Douglasville leagues, participated in the robotics tournament.
The following teams have been granted a spot at the FIRST Tech Challenge Georgia State Championship through advancement from the Western Georgia League Tournament:
- 7373– MPCS Eagle Robotics-Carbon Fiber, Inspire Award Winner
- 16500–DTZT 2, Winning Alliance Captain
- 4100–Darbots 1, Inspire Award 2nd Place, Motivate Award Winner
- 11364–MPCS Eagle Robotics-Diamond Plate, Winning Alliance 1st Pick, Think Award 2nd Place
- 4327–Silver Titans, Inspire Award 3rd Place, Finalist Alliance 1st Pick, Design Award Winner
- 17005–SAE Dragonbots, Winning Alliance 2nd Pick
- 12961–Checkmate, Think Award Winner
- 11127–Whitefield Robotics, Finalist Alliance Captain, Collins Aerospace Innovate Award Winner
- 12769–Rebellion Engineering, Connect Award Winner, Finalist Alliance 2nd Pick
The highest tournament award, the Inspire Award, which includes robot performance, community outreach, judging interview, engineering documentation, and learning from professionals in the STEM community, was awarded to Team 7373 Carbon Fiber. This year’s Georgia State Championship is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, February 21, 2020, with load-in, robot inspections, and judging into the evening. Opening Ceremonies and qualifying
ABOUT THE 2020 WESTERN GEORGIA FIRST® TECH CHALLENGE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT
Explosive growth in the number of FIRST® Tech Challenge teams in Georgia the last two seasons precipitated changes in the pathway to the Georgia State Championship. The teams were geographically districted into leagues, which have been competing in division-level league meets from October through December. Those leagues collided in a final League Tournament January 25, which was a qualifying event to determine which teams would advance to the Georgia State Championship in February.
The FIRST® Tech Challenge is a widely-accessible robotics program for grades 7 through 12 that promotes project-based learning. Teams design, build, program, and operate small robots – about the size of an average microwave – to compete in a new game each season. This season’s adventure-themed game SKYSTONESM, presented by Qualcomm Incorporated, involves an estimated 60,000 students on 7,000 teams in 25 countries around the world. Approximately 160 of those teams come from the state of Georgia.
In the 2019-20 SKYSTONESM game, teams work in an alliance to go through a building challenge. The goal is to score more points than the opposing alliance during 150 seconds of game play that includes autonomous and driver-controlled periods. Teams score points by navigating to specific parts of the 12×12-foot playing field, detecting and manipulating Skystones autonomously, retrieving gold stones from the quarry, depositing stones onto a mobile foundation, interlocking and stacking them in skyscrapers, and capping the towers with team-specific capstones before time expires.
FIRST® Tech Challenge programs use a proven formula to engage student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and boost self-confidence. A Brandeis University longitudinal study shows the impact of FIRST Tech Challenge: 86 percent of participants have an increased interest in doing well in school, 87 percent are more interested in going to college, and 92 percent experience an increase in their leadership skills.
ABOUT MOUNT PARAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Mount Paran Christian School, the largest private Christian school in Cobb County, is a non-denominational, college-preparatory school for students in preschool age three through grade 12. MPCS is committed to excellence in academics, award-winning arts, and championship athletics, all within a Christian environment with small class sizes. Founded in 1976, MPCS is fully accredited (SAIS/AdvancED) and located near Kennesaw Mountain on a 68-acre collegiate-like campus. Providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment, MPCS unites with home and church to prepare servant-leaders to honor God, love others, and walk in Truth.
