COVINGTON, Ga. — A Newton County team recently qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas, Texas, in April after its showing at the 2023 Georgia High School State Championship earlier this month.
Newton College & Career Academy’s Team 8682N, called the Nighthawks, solidified their place as the No. 1 team in Georgia by winning the state tournament and walking away with the State Championship Excellence Award Feb. 10-11 at Ola High School in McDonough.
The Nighthawks qualified for the state championship through several outstanding performances during the regular season and emerged as one of the best in Georgia heading into the state tournament.
Forty of Georgia’s top teams — from both public and private schools — qualified for the state championship and put their skills to the test at Ola High. Teams came from Ben Hill, Coffee, DeKalb, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Lowndes, Newton, Walker, Walton and Ware counties.
NCCA's Team 8682N went 5-2 in qualifying match play, which set it up to be chosen by the top seed — Team 3142P from Paideia School in Decatur — during alliance selection. The pair swept the elimination bracket and defeated an alliance made up of Tucker High School and Whitewater High School teams in the finals to clinch the title.
In addition to their championship win, the Nighthawks also won the State Championship Excellence Award. The Excellence Award is the highest award presented in a VEX Robotics Competition and is reserved for a team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a high-quality robotics program and is a strong contender in numerous award categories.
Judges consider the team’s design notebook, team interviews, qualification rankings and skills rankings as they choose the Excellence Award winner.
NCCA’s 8682N is comprised of seven members: seniors Noah Geiger, Madison Forss, Natalie Henderson, Santiago Jaramillo and Noah Larson; and juniors Bobby Stephens and Emma Grace Lumpkin.
Geiger said, “It was a tremendously fun tournament, and I am glad I got to do it with friends I have made over the years. The team is excited for the opportunity to compete with the world’s best robots in Dallas.”
Team mentor and NCCA manufacturing trainer Zack Pitts said, “I am incredibly proud of our teams, and I am grateful for the opportunity to mentor such talented and motivated students. I look forward to seeing what they achieve in the future.”
The World Championships are set for April 25-27 and will be comprised of 800 of the best high school robotics teams from nearly 40 different countries.
The VEX Robotics Competition, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, is the largest and fastest growing middle school and high school robotics program globally.
“VEX students display their technology and engineering knowledge, expand their communication and teamwork skills, and show us how enjoyable hands-on learning can be through robotics,” said Dan Mantz, CEO of the REC Foundation.
Georgia is home to 196 high school VEX robotics team, making it one of the largest participating states in the U.S.
NCCA also is home to two other teams, 8682C and 8682A. Students involved in the robotics program spend hours before and after school perfecting their designs and continuously improving their robots. Through the process, students learn about engineering design, electronics, programming, mechanical systems, 3D CAD, and materials fabrication.
The school attributes its robotics success, in part, to its partnership with SRG Global and the sponsorship support provided by META. Newton County is home to a META Data Center and the company has been the signature sponsor for VEX and VEXIQ robotics in Newton County for over three years. The company has provided over $150,000 in support for the district’s robotics initiatives to cover team registration, robotics equipment, and travel supplements.
SRG Global is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high value coatings on plastic for the automotive and commercial truck industries. The company’s Covington facility has capabilities in injection molding, metal stamping and roll forming, profile extrusion, co-extrusion, flocking lines and assembly. SRG Global regularly sends team mentors to NCCA to check on team progress and provide industry-expert consulting as students have questions about their designs.
