HOLLY POND – Holly Pond’s VEX Robotics Team has been making news all year long. The young men, Dexton Jones, Zachery Ayres and Rylan Griffin are in 10th, ninth and seventh grades respectively. After winning the highest honor at the Alabama State VEX Robotics Championship at Jacksonville State University on March 5, the young team advanced to the world championships.
Holly Pond's robotics team has been in existence at the school for about 10 years, according to Shawn Johnson, volunteer and sponsor. Johnson and the program’s other sponsor and volunteer, Howard Cole, work with the team on a day-to-day basis.
The team has been competing in the BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) program since the beginning, but within the last year began competing in a year-round program called VEX, which offers more competition and experience.
“We have three members on the VEX team and about 18 on the BEST team,” Johnson said.
The world championships, VEX Worlds 2016, held April 20-24, saw competitors from all 50 states and 37 countries with over 16,000 people in attendance. The Holly Pond team ranked 10th in programming skills and 29th in robot skills on the first day of the Louisville, Kentucky competition. After day three, the team was ranked 48th in their division and 32nd in programming skills.
The boys finished the world championships ranked 53rd in their division, and although they were not selected for the semi-finals, their strong finish is an accomplishment the community is immensely proud of, considering 1,075 teams competed. (The tournament was named by Guinness World Records as the largest robotics competition in the world! See http://qrne.ws/vex.)
Leading up to the world championships, the team not only worked tirelessly at honing their robotics skills but also their fundraising skills. Holly Pond Tire and Lube, Talisa Shikle at Alfa Insurance and many others in the community helped financially support the team during fundraisers for their competitions.
Sadly, U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala. (4th District) was not willing to support the Holly Pond Robotics Team.
In a letter penned in response to Johnson’s request for a donation, Aderholt stated that, “as a federal representative, I do not have a discretionary budget from which to donate toward your registration cost of the 2016 VEX World Tournament.”
Aderholt is Alabama’s U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District and has held the position for almost 20 years. The 4th District covers the counties of Franklin, Marion, Lamar, Fayette, Walker, Winston, Cullman, Lawrence, Marshall, Etowah and DeKalb. It also includes parts of Jackson and Cherokee counties, as well as parts of the Decatur Metropolitan Area and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area.
Up the road a bit from Holly Pond is Meridianville Middle School in Hazel Green. Meridianville is home to the Robotic Raptors, a robotics team that also competed in the world championships in Kentucky.
Meridianville did receive a donation and support from their congressman. Meridianville and Hazel Green are served by U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. who works for the 5th Congressional District covering Lauderdale, Limestone, Morgan, Madison and Jackson Counties.
The 5th Congressional District is fortunate to have the budget to support their students’ educational competitions which we, in the 4th District, do not seem to have available according to Aderholt.
Johnson explains the $850 donation he requested from Aderholt earlier in April. “This was the entry fee for the world tournament held April 20-24. We have an account through the high school designated for robotics only, and we have put the account in a negative standing to accommodate the expenses, but we are trying to raise money to pay it back through fundraising and donations. Whatever money is not raised will be paid back by the volunteer mentors out of pocket.”
Additionally, with the Holly Pond teams’ continued success over the years, there’s talk of the need for a second team. However, with funding a single team coming in at approximately $6,000 for their two programs (BEST and VEX), there’s little hope of another team forming. The students are at the school begging for the chance to start another team, but that might be impossible since funding the one team has been so difficult this year.
The kids are in need of Cullman’s support.
If you are interested in helping the team make up the deficit, supporting them in their future competitions or helping form the second team, please make out a check to Holly Pond Robotics and mail to Holly Pond High School, 160 New Hope Road, Holly Pond, AL 35083.
Aderholt’s office in Washington D.C., in addition to his local Cullman office were contacted for comment; however, no response was received from either office.
