By Ryan Michaels
The Birmingham Times
Students on the Martha Gaskins Elementary robotics team were recognized at Birmingham City Council on Tuesday. Last month, the fifth graders walked away with the title of Eastern United States Champions in the national Fall 2022 CoderZ League Robotics Competition.
This week, students (shown above) got a chance to meet city leaders including, back row, from left, Cedric Sparks Sr., Mayor Randall Woodfin’s chief of staff; Dr. Mark Sullivan, Birmingham City Schools Superintendent; Neonta Williams, Birmingham Board of Education President; Dr. Taylor Greene, Gaskins assistant principal; Yuvraj Verma, robotics teacher and coach; Dr. Herbert Blackmon, Gaskins principal and Birmingham City Councilor Clinton Woods.
“This should not be considered or perceived as the end, but the beginning,” said Verma, the fifth-grade teacher.
Students were challenged to program a computer robot using codes to complete tasks and puzzles.
“They have so many more years in their lives, educationally as well as personally, where they can really do so much more and really expand on the knowledge and the information that they learned from this competition in careers and in education,” Verma said.
The team competed with more than 60 other school teams from across the eastern United States.
A team of six fifth-graders won the first place prize, and the school’s other team of five placed 12th.
