Cartersville, Ga. – The middle school’s LEGO Robotics Team “Circuit Overload” hit the road to compete in the #TVARobotics FLL Tennessee Valley Robotics Regional Championship.
The team was coached by two instructors, David Decker and Brian Gatti. Circuit Overload previously scored an impressive first-place win in the Robot Game in December’s qualifier. It was the first time for Murphy Middle School.
That win earned the team a ticket to the competition, which put them up against the top 16 teams from across seven states. Each team represented at the competition had been a top-finishing team at their local qualifier competition.
Murphy Middle students displayed hard work, perseverance and teamwork throughout the day, their instructors said. Their contribution to the competition was to present their Innovation Research Project on a vacuum sealed container that would better preserve fossils and artifacts once discovered.
Their efforts did not go unnoticed, and their presentation earned high marks from the judge. They took fourth place with a top score of 220 points, the highest any Murphy Middle team has ever placed at a regional championship.
Gatti and Decker said they are incredibly proud and believe the team’s excellence, teamwork, innovation as well as their cooperation will help inspire and motivate future teams.
“We’re extremely proud of our team and all of their hard work and dedication. We were able to go that extra mile thanks to the TVA grant,” Gatti added.
Murphy Middle previously received $5,000 from the Tennessee Valley Authority for robotics.