Forsyth County, Ga, April 14, 2015 — AutomationDirect was recognized as a key business partner that helped Forsyth Central High School receive their Georgia DOE STEM certification. There are over 2,200 schools in Georgia and Forsyth Central is only the 6th high school in the state to achieve this honor. We want to congratulate the faculty students and administration for this incredible accomplishment.
AutomationDirect Gives Back
AutomationDirect gives back to the community in many ways – one of which is the support of STEM education. AutomationDirect supports over 100 competition robotics teams in Forsyth County, and employees serve as mentors for the young aspiring engineers, and judges for many of the competitions.
The county’s robotics teams all work together under one umbrella organization called the Forsyth Alliance which helps organize and coordinate the activities of all the teams. AutomationDirect works with the Forsyth Alliance as a business partner to provide guidance and monetary support.
The Forsyth Alliance is in its 10th year now and the results have been amazing. What started as a handful of students on a single robotics team has grown into one of the largest competition robotics programs of its kind. The Forsyth students participate in FIRST Lego League, VEX Robotics Competition, FIRST Robotics (FRC), MATE Underwater ROV, BEST Robotics and VEX IQ Robotics, starting in elementary school.
There are robotics competitions almost every weekend of the school year and the Forsyth students take full advantage. And that’s where the learning really happens. They go to a competition, find out where they can improve, iterate, go to another competition, iterate, etc. This is the best kind of learning there is! There is an old Chinese proverb that says “Competition is the whetstone of talent.” And boy, do these kids love to sharpen their talent!
This year has been especially successful for the Forsyth Alliance. Fourteen teams qualified for National and World Robotics Championships! These young students will stand on a world stage and compete with and against teams from all over the world. It’s an experience they will never forget.
And the best part is, the program is coming full circle – former students now work at AutomationDirect and in the local schools as technology teachers!
AutomationDirect couldn’t be happier knowing we had a part in making that happen.
Congratulations teams – and good luck at the World Championships! Check out the FaceBook page for Forsyth Alliance to see lots of fun videos and images of these amazing teams.
See the full article on the STEM certification in the Forsyth County News. Forsyth Central STEM program lands state certification