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Barnesville Middle School Hosts Ohio Robotics Competition

Photo by Jennifer Compston-Strough Jerney Fox, left, a seventh-grader at Barnesville Middle School, works with teammate Olivia Toliver, an eighth-grader, to prepare their robot for a final round of competition at the school on Saturday.

BARNESVILLE — Do you remember completing your class assignments in middle school?

You probably were expected to learn and use basic concepts of algebra and geometry, read literary works and write structured essays using appropriate vocabulary words and correct grammar and spelling. Maybe you read about the physical or life sciences and conducted some simple experiments. You probably also continued to learn about our nation’s history and how our government works.

But were you ever asked to build a robot?

That’s precisely what many middle school and high school students are doing these days in programs designed to generate interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, popularly known as STEM.

On Saturday, Barnesville Middle School hosted a robotics competition that attracted 38 teams from 12 schools all across Ohio and even from Morgantown. With four to five students on each team, an estimated 150-200 students took part in at least one phase of the competition.

Buckeye State schools and communities represented included Perry County, Zanesville, Morrow County, Pickerington and others.

Tom Gildersleeve coaches the Highland Middle School robotics team of Morrow County. He said the early rounds of competition at Barnesville on Saturday consisted of six qualifying matches. In those contests, student team members had to program their robots to complete 15 seconds of autonomous run time. Then they had to complete another 1 minute and 45 seconds of “drive time” in which they guided the robot in specific tasks, such as navigating obstacles and picking up and moving small cones or similar objects to specific locations.

Gildersleeve said participating in robotics programs and competitions helps students develop and build skills in the areas of teamwork, strategy, programming and more.

Teacher John Jordan coaches Barnesville’s robotics team and organized the event. After the qualifying rounds were complete, he said the top teams got the chance to select other teams as “alliance partners” for the final round of competition.

In the end, an alliance of three teams would be declared the overall event winner and another team would receive the excellence award. Both the victorious alliance and the excellence winner qualify for state-level competition, which Jordan said usually occurs in the spring at Marion, Ohio.

Jordan explained Barnesville Middle School offers students the chance to participate in Project Lead The Way, a nonprofit initiative that helps students learn technical skills and explore STEM fields through real-world challenges. Jordan said the robotics team is one way the school generates interest in the initiative. He added that exposure to STEM fields is important for students’ future educational and career choices.

“In this area, this may be the primary way these students get any exposure to the engineering fields,” Jordan said. “Otherwise, there may be things out there that they would never know about.”

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