Ridgeland High School robotics team going to world championship

Ridgeland Robotics Team qualifies for world championship / Ridgeland Robotics Facebook

ROSSVILLE, Ga. (WDEF) — Ridgeland High School’s robotics team is headed to the world championship after finishing fourth place in the state championship.

Last weekend, the Ridgeland High School VEX Robotics Team finished fourth place at the VEX Robotics Georgia State Championship. The championship took place in McDonough, Georgia, and it consisted of the best 40 teams in the state.

The VEX Robotics World Championship will take place in Dallas, Texas in April 2024.

Ridgeland’s team members include Evan Broome, Josh Litts, Caleb Litts, Kylie Thurman and Jackson Medford.

The team built and programed a robot to solve challenges in the competition game “Spin Up.”

“I am so proud of these students for all their hard work and the ways they work together as a team,” said Ridgeland’s coach Mandi Dean. “It is amazing to see these students take what they’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to building and programming a robot from ideation to completion. It’s been remarkable to see what they’ve accomplished during their time with this robotics program, and it is inspiring to think about the positive impact they will have on the world around them in the years to come.”

These students use the skills they learn in the school’s STEM program and school meetings for robotics. Students learn about electronics, programming, mechanical systems, animation, 3D CAD, computer-aided machining, web design and materials fabrication, according to the school.

“Many of the team members plan to go on to college and major in robotics, computer programming, or an engineering-related field, utilizing the skills they acquired on our robotics team,” said senior Evan Broome of his team’s accomplishments.