By Nicole Thomas
Just two months after engineering their way to a 4th straight state title in the 2015 MS BEST Robotics Championship, the SHS RoboJackets captured their first ever regional crown at the South’s BEST Regional Robotics Championship held at Auburn University. The RoboJackets won 1st place, beating out 54 other teams from Misssissippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee for the regional title. In addition to the grand prize, SHS was awarded BEST Team Exhibit and Interview, 1st place; BEST Spirit & Sportsmanship, 2nd place; BEST Robotics Team, 3rd place.
After winning the state championship in October, the RoboJackets spent the next six weeks fine-tuning their robot’s design for the grueling competition of the South’s BEST Game Day.
“SHS really knocked this one out of park,” remarked one judge at the state competition. RoboJackets’ coach Denise Adair agreesd.
“We could not have won without Jamie Forrester, who captained our vendor exhibit construction crew,” said Adair.
Forrester is a fifth-year RoboJacket who has been on the team since its founding in 2011. It’s that kind of leadership that the team’s marketing coach April Dill hopes to build on with the addition of 25 new RoboJackets who joined the program this year from four different schools.
“Consolidation has strengthened our team considerably,” said Dill. “Our new team members bring a wealth of talents and skills to the robotics program.”
In only its 5th year, the RoboJackets have established themselves as a premiere program, placing in the top 10 the past two years and becoming the first team from Mississippi to win the regional competition.