Jackson Christian School hosts robotics tournament

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson Christian School hosted their Winter Classic VEX IQ robotics tournament Saturday.

Over 100 elementary and middle school students representing 25 teams from 10 Tennessee schools will be competing.

“We are really excited about it. The children were nervous but they have been doing great so far. It’s a terrific experience, they’ve learned a lot about engineering,” said Jenny Brandon, teacher at Ripley Middle School.

Each team brought a robot they previously built to compete in the 2019-2020 VEX IQ challenge.

“Then they will have a specific challenge that they are playing this year to challenge to try to score points. It’s tournament play and they will in total play 80 matches before the day is over,” said Molly Plyler, computer science and robotics director.

“Once you’ve accomplished something it’s really cool like seeing your robot to go and score points,” said Aiden Ervin, student.

Some of the students I spoke with shared their experiences in building their own robot.

“We argued a lot at first but we got over it. I like how I see, like our first robot it was really bad and so I just like to see a robot like this one as good as this,” said Jaden Hughes, student.

“I am having a lot of fun. I like watching my team score points and having a lot of fun, telling them when their next match is and I just think it’s a lot of fun,” said Jackson Gatlin, student.

This tournament is a state qualifier for the 2020 Tennessee VEX IQ state championship.

“Awards are given. We will have teams form today. We will get special invites to the Tennessee state championship competition in March,” Plyler said.

Plyler says Brentwood Academy in Nashville will host the championship in March.