Jefferson Middle robotics team wins championship in Cookeville

March 6, 2024 by Ben Pounds

Students from many Anderson County schools faced off in Cookville recently to test their robotics skills, with one team going on to the championship.

The competition, the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee Championship, took place Feb. 10 and included 48 teams from East and Middle Tennessee.

Teams from Oak Ridge’s Jefferson Middle School did well. The JMS Master Builders earned the right to represent Tennessee at the FIRST World Championship in Houston in April by finishing first in the Champions Award category and third in the Robot Performance Award.

Additionally, the RadioActive Brix won second place in the Champions Award and will represent Tennessee at the Western Edge competition in California in May.

The Atomic Eagles won the second-place Innovation Project Award, and Secret Innovation won the second-place Robot Award, with their team mentor Jason Rieger winning the Coach/Mentor Award. The league caps teams to 10 or fewer students, which is why there

are multiple JMS teams.

“I’m so proud of all our students for competing and performing so well at a very difficult competition,” Janie Shanafield, head coach of the Atomic Eagles, and speech-language pathologist serving Jefferson Middle and Oak Ridge High schools, said in an official news release.

“Having two teams take first and second in the Champions Award is an amazing accomplishment and speaks to the commitment and hard work of all our students and

coaches.”

Also from Oak Ridge, the Woodland Hawk Bots got a Rising All Star designation.