The Oak Mountain Middle School BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) Robotics Team has kicked it into high gear as they get ready for an upcoming regional competition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) October 9-10.

The team, which includes sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, has created the Oak Mountain Mining Company which includes a Design/Programming Team, Marketing Team, and a Spirit and Sportsmanship Team.

Robotics instructor Sherri Whitehead said the competition robot is up and moving, the practice field is built, and the brochures and marketing booth are under heavy construction as time ticks down to when the team will compete against 32 other middle school and high school teams this weekend.

“The team has included the community in this exciting challenge by recruiting parent and adult mentors, Oak Mountain High School Robotics Team mentors, and local sponsors,” Whitehead said.

Whitehead is the teacher for Project Lead the Way and Gateway To Technology (GTT) at OMMS. This project-based program is designed to challenge and engage the natural curiosity and imagination of middle school students. This activity-oriented, cutting-edge program shows students how technology is used in engineering to solve everyday problems. GTT currently consists of four instructional units that motivate students to become creative innovators. During the GTT experience, students  gain the skills they need to develop, produce, and use products and services. This year students will be doing activities from Design and Modeling and Automation and Robotics modules.