Shooting for the moom.Mississippi students are going high-tech. Several teams from Mississippi recently took home top awards from the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Lone Star Lone Star (or Lonestar) may refer to:
Houston (pronounced /'hjuːstən/) is the largest city in the state of Texas and the . FIRST was founded by world-renowned inventor Dean Kamen Dean L. Kamen (born April 5, 1951) is an American entrepreneur and inventor. Born in Rockville Centre, New York, he attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but dropped out before graduating. His father is Jack Kamen, an illustrator of Weird Science and other EC Comics. to inspire students to explore science and technology fields. The Mississippi teams were sponsored by NASA's Stennis Space Center. "To me, FIRST Robotics is all about opening doors for students," says Gulfport High School team mentor and NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. engineer Christine Powell. "This program builds engineers, scientists, and teachers. But it also builds explorers and leaders, I truly believe that those who will go to the moon and to Mars will be FIRST alumni, and I can't wait to go along for the ride." Six weeks of work paid off for the Mississippi teams from Gulfport High School, Warren Central High School Warren Central High School may refer to:
Provine High School, also called "Ram City", serves students in grades 9-12 in the West Jackson area. in Jackson, Monroe County Monroe County is the name of seventeen counties in the United States, named after President James Monroe:
 n`), city (1990 pop. 10,633), Pearl River co., S Miss., near the Pearl River and the La. line; inc. 1904. Memorial High School.
After the preliminary rounds, each of the five Mississippi teams earned a spot in an alliance to compete in the final rounds of competition. The alliance that included the Gulfport High School team was victorious, with the runner-up award going to the Provine team. Other Mississippi winners included the Pearl River/Picayune team, which won the Highest Rookie Seed Award, and Gulfport High, winner of the Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award. The Warren Central team took home both the Motorola Quality Award and the Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award for outstanding design and engineering. Choctaw Central High School from Choctaw competed in the Peachtree Regional in Atlanta, Ga., where they won a Judge's Award. The contest had quite an effect on the students. Sedrick Johnson, a senior member of the Provine team, says he has decided to change his major from physical therapy to engineering when he gets to college. "It is an excellent program," says Provine mentor Lender Luse. "It is a good opportunity for students to apply hands-on what they learn in the classroom. Many of our students plan In major in engineering and science." With the future of space exploration relying heavily on robotic missions, programs like FIRST are considered valuable in helping inspire the next generation of explorers. Stennis Space Center has sponsored teams in the competition since 2000. The center offers grants to qualifying teams for their first two years of competition, giving them the opportunity to build community support and additional sponsorship. Stennis also offers mentorship and advice through employees who dedicate weeks of weekend and after-work time to help teams design and construct their robots for FIRST. |
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