​Tucker Students to Compete in National Robotics Contest

From Stone Mountain CID: With several regional and statewide successes in Georgia to their credit, members of “Team Reboot” are now on their way from Tucker to the world robotics competition in Houston, Texas.

Team Reboot – comprised of mostly homeschool students – has used donated warehouse space in the Stone Mountain Community Improvement District (CID) in Tucker to create an autonomous machine to perform specific tasks. The students use their creation in competitions as part of the “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” (FIRST), a science contest created by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway.

Ranked 15th in the state at their district competition on March 9, Team Reboot scored a second-place showing in Albany and finished another nail-biting second place in the Georgia statewide contest in Athens.

Now ranked as top-contenders, Team Reboot will pit their robot against others created by teams from around the world. Team Coach Deneise Turner said her students are “beyond excited.”

“We’ve been very pleased with our results, and all seven students and their parents are nervous but ready to compete on the big stage,” Turner said. “In order to compete, we have to cooperate, and everyone’s been great about that.”

Business and commercial property owners in the Stone Mountain CID have contributed time, supplies and financial support for Team Reboot. The students recently provided a robotics demonstration to a quarterly gathering of CID-based business leaders.

Team Reboot has created a GoFundMe account to accept financial donations to offset the cost of travel and equipment – www.gofundme.com/send-reboot-to-world-comp. Anyone wishing to support Team Reboot should contact Coach Turner at 404-917-7970 or dturner81029@att.net.

Photo courtesy of Stone Mountain CID