Pictured writing the program to control their robot during a recent practice session are Jaxon Mason, Jack Blaske, and Anna Pilkington.

F.E. Burleson fourth grade students Anna Pilkington, Jaxon Mason, Madison Rolader, Dylan Dean and Jack Blaske will compete in a  robotics competition in Tuscaloosa, at the University of Alabama, the weekend of April 9. This will be the first competition for the school to participate. FEB teacher, Suzanne Mozley, chaperoned the high school team last year and saw other elementary schools participating and decided to get a completion team together.

The students will be using vex robots and will write programs to complete challenges during the competition. They will have three challenges with 3 hours to complete, without any adult help. The robots they will be using are from the Hartselle High graphical programming class.

Mozley mentions there is lots of trial and error in preparing for the competition. There is a lot of math involved but the students are allowed to use calculators. “They are having fun but learning at the same time,” said Mozley.