Cedar Hill ISD Longhorn Insider April 2018 | Page 11

STUDENTS ADVANCE IN STATE ROBOTICS COMPETITION A n interest in the final frontier took the Bessie Coleman Middle School robotics club to familiar territory — first place in the regional round of the Texas Computer Education Association inventions contest. This is the second consecutive year the team has advanced to the state level. The group placed 17th out of 40 teams, 10 spots higher than last year. Carah Allen, Ford Blunt and Kevin Sulca are this year’s team, named Gotta Blast!. Together they created The Armstrong, a battery-operated exoskeleton made from Legos, to help astronauts regain bone and muscle density after long space missions. This is the third year a CHISD team has competed in TCEA. More than 1,400 teams from across Texas annually participate in TCEA robotics contests. 11