MJHS Robotics team receives funding

Arkansas First Tech Challenge Rookie Grant awards $1,225 to MJHS

Marion School District The Marion Junior High School Robotics team received the Arkansas First Tech Challenge Rookie Grant for the 2019-20 Sky Stone season. This grant will cover the items they need to compete this season in Arkansas.

The grant will cover team registration to Arkansas ($300), an FTC Tetrix competition set ($532), Control & Communications Set #2 ($249), & a Rev Hub ($129). This Arkansas grant award is valued $1225.

This grant was made possible by the DEKA Foundation, one of the leading research and development companies in the country and is the birthplace of some of the most innovative and life-changing products of our time.

In 1989, DEKA founded FIRST to build the next generation’s workforce.

Founder of DEKA, Dean Kamen says “FIRST is more than robots. The robots are a vehicle for students to learn important life skills. Kids often come in not knowing what to expect— of the program, nor of themselves. They leave, even after the first season, with a vision, with confidence, and with a sense that they can create their own future.”

Another science-focused effort currently underway is in the 8th grade Science and Pre-Ap Science classes, where students are working on a new project.

The students are planning and building a roller coaster, or at least a scale-sized one. The plans will then be entered into a 3-D roller coaster simulator. You can follow the students’ progress on the Marion Junior High School Facebook page.