Pictured: Brent Miller (left) and Sterling James (right), members of the Vidalia High School Robotics Team, make final adjustments to the competition robot, "Phil Mark II".
On November 10, 2014, the Vidalia City School System hosted a Robotics Program demonstration for local economic development professionals, including representatives of the Toombs County Development Authority, Toombs-Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, Board of Commissioners of Toombs County, Vidalia City Council, Lyons City Council, Southeastern Technical College, Georgia Department of Labor and Georgia Department of Economic Development.
The contingent gathered at Vidalia High School and was treated to a wonderful chili lunch provided by Jill Murphy's Family and Consumer Sciences class. Afterwards, student representatives of the Robotics Team, led by Jeff Ikner, Science Teacher, hosted them on a tour of the training lab used to help k-12 students explore interested and potential future careers in robotics and automation. Several robotic demonstrations were performed, including a demonstration of the "Phil Mark II" robot project that will be featured in upcoming competition.
Participants were very impressed. The availability of this program locally will certainly benefit the community securing economic development projects. Bill Mitchell, Executive Director of the Toombs County Development and President of the Toombs-Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, stated, "By staying abreast of new technologies and processes, the school system continues to produce a highly skilled, well-trained workforce that makes industries productive and profitable." Blake Tillery, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Toombs County, added, "We commend the school system for actively participating in the economic development process by continuing to find ways to be innovative in its approach to training and developing the future workforce that industry requires. Economic development is a team sport."
