EDITORIAL: Central Junior High students take robotics interest to the next level

Students from the Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School robotics team, called TigerTech, recently took home the Design Award from the Missouri Middle School VEX State Championship. Next step: the Live Remote VEX Robotics World Championship.

This year's event, due to COVID-19, will be held virtually in late May. Still, the CJHS team will be competing against other students in grades six through 12. The 2019 competition included more than 15,000 students when it was held in Louisville, Kentucky.

For their winning entry, TigerTech created the build design and code to work with the controller and tracked their work in a notebook.

"We're still pinching ourselves," science teacher and team coach Julianna West told the Southeast Missourian about the team's experience. "I'm so proud of them, and they worked so hard for it, but we're not done."

It's exciting to see students apply themselves in projects outside the classroom. The robotics team is a tremendous way to gain experience and learn about next level technology -- something that could propel these students in their future academic and professional careers. We wish the TigerTech team well as they compete in the world championship. Regardless of outcome, the students have already won in the way they've applied themselves. And hopefully their success serves as inspiration to other students to explore similar opportunities.