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Published October 08, 2007 08:32 pm - HOLLY POND — While the Holly Pond football team drilled in preparation for its upcoming game Wednesday afternoon, another Bronco team was preparing for a competition of its own. Holly Pond Robotics team seeks BEST By David Lazenby The Cullman Times HOLLY POND — While the Holly Pond football team drilled in preparation for its upcoming game Wednesday afternoon, another Bronco team was preparing for a competition of its own.
The school robotics team spent last week gearing up for a contest held Saturday at Calhoun Community College in Decatur. The team finished eighth out of 18 schools. “It’s just like a football, basketball or volleyball competition — only it’s with robots,” said school guidance counselor Karen Rowell, who got the team started. “This was an improvement from last year” she said about an event held at Auburn University in which the team placed 11th out of 16 schools. “These were robots competing for points instead of humans — which is actually what’s going on in the world today.” Rowell got involved in robotics training about four years ago when she recognized that robots would one day play a future in the local economy. She said her endeavor is an effort to help students prepare for their entry into the workforce. “Me being a counselor, it’s my job to help our kids earn a living,” Rowell said. “So I looked at our community and realized there’s business industry coming in with a lot of equipment that is robotics (related). “In the workforce of tomorrow, these kids need to be trained in electronics, math, science, computers and technology,” she said. To get started, Rowell wrote a grant proposal to begin a summer enrichment program. Through that program, Rowell got involved in First Lego League, an international robotics program in which students solve real-world engineering challenges. “The kids really loved it and they wanted more,” she said. Rowell said last year was the first year the school was involved in BEST, a non-profit organization that promotes team problem solving aided by local industry. BEST stands for Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology. Before getting started for this year’s contest, each school was provided a bevy of supplies for their machine’s construction. “From this kit we have six weeks to build a moving vehicle,” said Rowell, adding that an annual theme determines what functions that machine must possess. The theme this year centered around space missions to Mars. The robotics team built an automated supply vehicle similar to a machine that might be used for exploration of the Red Planet. “The ASV has to do what a space mission would do if it was the actual thing,” Rowell said. In addition to building the robot, students had to create a project engineering notebook judged as part of the competition. Also judged Saturday was a table display and students’ performance in an oral presentation to be given by three Holly Pond students. 
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