SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A team of students from Stamping Ground Elementary School in Scott County is preparing for a trip to Dallas, TX to compete in a worldwide robotics competition.
Three individual teams of students qualified from the school. Only seven teams from across the state qualified.
“The kids you saw today have probably worked 8 hours each week trying to find the best way to achieve their goal,” said coach Pat Price, who explained the team only has one official one-hour practice a week. The rest is students volunteering their time, he said.
Students get experience with robot building, driving, as well as programming the robots to operate autonomously.
Students are learning the value of how hard can pay off, Price explained.
“It’s pretty amazing that a tiny little school like this, only 400 kids, can get an invitation to go to the world tournament,” he said.
The Robotics team was originally funded through a donation from Toyota - allowing them to buy their first robot. Since then additional donations have allowed them to grow. You can donate here.
One 5th grader, Clay Markey, said being a part of the team is helping to prepare him for an eventual career as an electrical engineer. Markey said some of the students will likely go on to run their family’s farms, and their experience programming the robots could be helpful down the line as technology in the farming industry adds more automation.
