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LARGEST STATEWIDE ROBOTICS COMPETITION THIS WEEKEND

LARGEST STATEWIDE ROBOTICS COMPETITION THIS WEEKEND

BRENTWOOD, TN—February 27, 2018 – More than 1,000 students from across the state will compete at Tennessee’s VEX Robotics Competition March 2 and 3 at Brentwood Academy with hopes of earning a spot to compete in this year’s 11th Annual World Competition in April.

More than 100 elementary, middle, and high school teams from all points in the state have qualified to compete in the tournament sponsored by TVA and presented by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation. Students have spent nearly a year designing, programming, and building robots for head-to-head competition in the VEX challenges. Each team attending this weekend qualified after competing throughout the year at regional competitions. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge. Competition hours Saturday are 9:00-4:00; Brentwood Academy is located at 219 Granny White Pike in Brentwood.

High school and middle school teams will compete in the VEX Robotics “In the Zone” challenge; elementary schools will compete in the VEX IQ “Ringmaster” challenge.
In addition to learning valuable engineering skills, these challenges allow students to gain life skills such as teamwork, perseverance, communication, collaboration, project management, and critical thinking. The VEX Robotics Competition prepares students to become future innovators

with 95% of participants reporting an increased interest in STEM subject areas and pursuing STEM-related careers.

“Along with many schools worldwide, Brentwood Academy has seen the growth and increased interest in robotics engineering programs, and we are thrilled to support our students’ interest by organizing and competing in the state tournament,” said Wendy Stallings, Brentwood Academy physics teacher and tournament organizer.

VEX Robotics is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics program for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world, with more than 11,000 teams from over 25 countries that participate in more than 800 competitions worldwide. The competition season culminates each Spring, with the highly-anticipated VEX Robotics World Championship presented by the Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation, which unites top qualifying teams from local, state and international VEX Robotics events. Each year VEX designs a new challenge with corresponding curriculum that students use to learn engineering skills, teamwork, and programming. Learn more at www.RoboticsEducation.org and www.robotevents.com.

Founded in 1969, Brentwood Academy is a co-educational, independent, college preparatory school dedicated to nurturing and challenging each whole person—body, mind, and spirit—to the glory of God.

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(ATTACHED PHOTO COURTESY OF BRENTWOOD ACADEMY) From the regional tournament held in October.

Contact: Susan Shafer/Brentwood Academy Susan_shafer@brentwoodacademy.com (615) 724-0054