Oak Ridge Today

JMS robotics team headed to world competition

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Three robotics teams from Jefferson Middle School competed in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on February 10. The Atomic Eagles qualified to represent Jefferson Middle School and Tennessee at the FIRST LEGO World Championships in Houston this month. (Submitted photo)

Three robotics teams from Jefferson Middle School competed in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on February 10. The Atomic Eagles qualified to represent Jefferson Middle School and Tennessee at the FIRST LEGO World Championships in Houston this month. (Submitted photo)

 

Three robotics teams from Jefferson Middle School competed in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on February 10. The Atomic Eagles qualified to represent Jefferson Middle School and Tennessee at the FIRST LEGO World Championships in Houston this month.

To compete in the state championship, teams must first qualify at either the Knoxville, Nashville, Tullahoma, Bristol, or Johnson City competitions. The Atomic Eagles, JMS Master Builders, and Radioactive Brix all qualified in Knoxville on December 10, 2017, at Hardin Valley Academy.

At the East Tennessee Championship, the Radioactive Brix (team # 3131), including members Johnny Clark, Abby Ellis, Christopher Gorsuch, Roxanne Farahi, Eden Hatmaker, Wesley Hixson, Henry Landau, and Colby Lawson, finished the robot challenge game with a high score of 135. The team coach is Norma Franco and the team mentor is Justin Lawson. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge teams excel at state chess team championships

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Oak Ridge High School Freshmen Chess Team in March 2018: Levi Parish, Adam Herron, Kenny Adams, and Dan Joy (Photo courtesy Esther Parish)

Oak Ridge High School Freshmen Chess Team: Levi Parish, Adam Herron, Kenny Adams, and Dan Joy (Photo courtesy Esther Parish)

 

Every year, the top four scholastic chess teams in each of the four grade divisions qualify to join teams from the other three regions to compete for the Tennessee Chess Association scholastic team championships, which were held March 24 at Tennessee Tech University.

Four Oak Ridge schools—Linden Elementary School, Robertsville Middle School, Jefferson Middle School, and Oak Ridge High School—qualified a total of six teams for this year’s event. That meant that about 1/10th of the players were Oak Ridge students (Oak Ridge has about 0.4 percent of the state’s population).

In the Primary (K-3) section, the Linden team of Ricardo Smith, William Hetrick, Quinn Richardson, and Kaylee Tress finished 11th overall.

In the Elementary (K-6) section, Jefferson (Brian Qu, Isaak Nussbaum, Gavin Koentop, and Toby Croft) finished fifth, while Robertsville (Leo Ehlers, Patrick Wurm, Daisy Kercher, Brandon Bonamarte, and Zachary Williamson) took 10th. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge students finish 3rd, 5th, 8th at state chess championship

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An Nguyen (Submitted photo)

An Nguyen (Submitted photo)

 

St. Mary’s School kindergartener An Nguyen, Jefferson Middle School sixth-grader Brian Qu, and Oak Ridge High School senior Andrew Chan were among the prize winners at the state individual chess championship at Tennessee Tech University on February 17.

An finished third in the Primary (K-3) division; Brian finished fifth in the Elementary (K-6) division; and Andrew finished eighth in the High School (K-12) division, a press release said.

Full results may be found at the Tennessee Chess Association website at tnchess.us, and photos are available at the Facebook page @TCA Region 1 Scholastic Chess. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge students earn spots in state chess tournament

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K-3 section winners are pictured above at the Tennessee Chess Association Individual Regional Tournament on Jan. 27, 2018, at Oak Ridge High School. An Nguyen from St. Mary's is at right. (Submitted photo)

K-3 section winners are pictured above at the Tennessee Chess Association Individual Regional Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, at Oak Ridge High School. An Nguyen from St. Mary’s is at right. (Submitted photo)

 

Oak Ridge students have earned spots in the state championship chess tournament this month.

The Tennessee Chess Association Individual Regional Tournament was Saturday, January 27, at Oak Ridge High School. There were 36 competitors representing Oak Ridge schools: 12 from Oak Ridge High School, six from Jefferson Middle School, six from Robertsville Middle School, four from Willow Brook Elementary School, three each from Linden Elementary School and Woodland Elementary School, and two from St. Mary’s.

Kindergartener An Nguyen from St. Mary’s won a clear first place in the K-3 division with a perfect 5-0 score, a press release said. [Read more…]

JMS robotics team to represent school, Tennessee at FIRST LEGO World Championships

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The Jefferson Middle School Master Builders finished a robot challenge game with a high score of 204 and won the first place overall Champion's Award in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017. The team received the Global Innovation Award. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools)

The Jefferson Middle School Master Builders finished a robot challenge game with a high score of 204 and won the first place overall Champion’s Award in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017. The team received the Global Innovation Award. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools)

 

Content written by team coaches—edited and submitted by Holly Cross

Three robotics teams from Jefferson Middle School competed in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on February 11. One team will represent Jefferson Middle School and Tennessee at the FIRST LEGO World Championships in Houston in April.

To compete in the state championship, teams must first qualify at either the Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga, or Johnson City competitions. The Atomic Eagles, JMS Master Builders, and Radioactive Brix all qualified in Knoxville on December 3 at Hardin Valley Academy.

The Radioactive Brix (team # 3131) finished the robot challenge game with a high score of 90 and won second place in mechanical design. Members are: Johnny Clark, Grace Godfrey, Christopher Gorsuch, Ethan Holland, Colby Lawson, Josh Shubert, and Chrystalleni White. The team coach is Norma Franco. The team mentor is Justin Holland.

The Atomic Eagles (team #336) finished the robot challenge game with a high score of 110 and won the third place overall Champions Award. Members are: Ben Dallas, Lindsey Fiscor, Bethany Marshall, Amelie Nagle, Levi Parish, Brian Qu, and Alex Shanafield. The team coaches are Janie Shanafield and David Hundermark. The team mentor is Harold Shanafield. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge students advance to state chess championship

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More than 100 students from 35 schools and home school groups in East Tennessee competed in the Tennessee Chess Association regional tournament at Oak Ridge High School on January 28.

Forty-two of the 115 participants represented schools in Oak Ridge: Jefferson Middle School, Linden Elementary School, Oak Ridge High School, Robertsville Middle School, St. Mary’s, Willow Brook Elementary School, and Woodland Elementary School. Those who qualified for the state tournament to be held February 18 at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville are: [Read more…]