Walton Robotics Wins GRITS Honors

The Walton High School Robotics Team received top honors at the October 27 Georgia Regional Invitational Tournament and Showcase (GRITS).

The team earned the prestigious Coopertition Award for its professionalism and efforts to help other teams attending the scrimmage, including lending a rookie team a practice robot and teaching its students how to drive it throughout the competition.

The team received the Outreach Award for its exemplary community outreach program, as well as having the most rookies (15) attending the event. With six rookie drivers, the Walton Team came away with a second place finish for the robotic basketball tournament as part of an alliance with the RoboJackets from Roswell and Team Reboot from Atlanta.

The Walton Robotics Team also debuted its new student-designed and built pneumatic t-shirt cannon during the October 26 ESPN-televised football game between Walton and Milton. The device, which launched 65 t-shirts into the eager fans in the stands at Raider Valley, will be deployed at Walton home sporting events and other community gatherings, to promote interest in the robotics team, as well as engineering and technology careers.

"The cannon exceeded all our expectations," noted senior team member and Communications Director Olivia Malice. "It was really exciting hearing the crowd chanting ‘Robotics! Robotics!’ and see our fellow students wearing the shirts the following week. It made me feel as if ourschool was not only aware of us as a team, but taking pride in us, as well."

In its fifth year, Walton Robotics is attention with its group of 43 talented students, dedicated coach, and skilled mentors. The team's mission is to help student develop personal and professional skills, inspire students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and promotes STEM as fun and rewarding, and a pathway to a brighter future. Team members aim to change the perception of STEM in their community and across the world through collaboration and encouragement, while having fun.

Support for the Walton team is provided by GE Volunteers Foundation, Taylor & Mathis, Automated Logic, Lockheed Martin, UPS, Novelis, Women in Technology, Dixie Industrial Finishing, Rotary Club of East Cobb, TSheets, Benton Advisory Group, Knowledge Shop, Mansour Center, PBWorks, LabArchives, Inmotion Hosting, Net2Atlanta, Safety Glasses USA, and Sequence Technologies.

For more information about Walton Robotics or to become a team sponsor, visit the organization's website.