We are excited for the North Charleston Robotics Team! The students below competed at our only local robotics competition this weekend:

FRC Team 10231: Zarriah Hayes, Iyonica Ravenel, Anastasia Moultrie, Ta’mari Chisolm, Dereon Roberts, Jarae Richardson, Parker Poling, Giovanni Berrios, Cervante Campbell.

These students represented NCHS with pride, respect, determination, and ingenuity. Dereon played the National Anthem on the electric guitar for the event’s opening ceremonies and at this moment is going viral. He enjoyed being a celebrity for the weekend and Parker enjoyed the promotion of their band THEM. FRC is contemplating inviting them to play at a team social at the state championships in Anderson in 2 weeks.

Scholars faced a field of 35 robots this past weekend and finished in 27th place. This is up from 30th place at Hartsville 2 weeks ago. Their driving skills have improved and students continue to operate independently in their pits to prepare the robot and troubleshoot problems in the brief time between matches. They remained calm and determined the entire time. They solved every problem that arose including a lost bearing that induced a partial rebuild, coding updates to improve autonomous movement, and troubleshooting an electrical problem caused by errant game pieces.

The CCSD STEM Specialists Antoinette Green and Cheryl Walden, Mr. Cooney, Ms. Upchurch, and Ms. Townsley made appearances to cheer on one of their favorite robotics teams. Connections were made with an engineer from Bosch that is going to mentor the team on all the technical side of tings. North Charleston City Councilman Brandon Hudson also made an appearance during day 2 opening ceremonies he gave a shoutout to his “favorite team.”

The local Charleston area teams have been very supportive. The team grew closer to the Mt. Pleasant and Cane Bay teams this weekend and they are impressed with our students’ poise. Their mentor team at Fort Dorchester finished in 3rd place and we are SUPER proud of them as well. 

During the last leg of the competition on Saturday, Mr. George Devlin, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs of Benedict College, presented the team with an invitation and tickets to the Benedict College Harambee festival. He served as a judge this weekend and said he was impressed by our students’ poise and perseverance.

Finally, state championships in Anderson in early April are by invitation only, awarded to the top 28 teams in the state. It is official, the robotics team is #28 out of 46! THEY ARE GOING TO STATE!