Members of Swampbotics, the team name for Ware County High School’s TSA Robotics Program were thrilled to learn money from the $2,500 donation made by Okefenoke REMC could be used to help purchase competition kits, required electronics, as well as cover competition registration and travel expenses. Additionally, funds will be used to enhance the engineering curriculum taught by Holland Brown, Engineering and Technology Teacher and the TSA Advisor and Robotics Team Coordinator.

Following the check presentation by OREMC Member Service Representative Dewayne Johns, four members of Swampbotics were eager to demonstrate their robot in action on a practice course and discuss their recent achievements at competition in Irwin, Georgia, being named both Sportsmanship Champion and Skills Champion. Said Sophomore Connor Chapman, “All of us want to study some kind of engineering. [Fellow classmate] Maddox and I have been doing robotics since third grade when the kits were more like Legos®, but the electronics are much more expensive now so this money will help a lot.”

Ware County High School CTAE Director Lynn Barber explained that the high school’s engineering and robotics program works closely with the robotics clubs at both Ware and Waycross Middle Schools. He says this helps to foster students’ interest in S.T.EM. (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) from an early age.

 “Supporting S.T.E.M. education and seeing students get excited by the hands-on experiences they can have through programs such as Ware County High School’s Robotics Team is exactly what this donation from OREMC is all about,” explained Johns. “Whether through specialized trades or a college degree, we want  students to understand there is a need for S.T.E.M. training, and job opportunities to put those skills and education to work right here in their hometowns. That is why our OREMC Board of Directors is committed to giving back to the communities we serve by supporting education, which in turn supports future economic development.”

Funds for donations such as this come from unclaimed capital credits which OREMC is able to reinvest in its eight-county service area through qualifying organizations and programs.

Pictured: OREMC Member Service Representative Dewayne Johns presented Ware County High School S.T.E.M with a $2,500 donation. Accepting the donation were (l-r) Holland Brown, Engineering and Technology Teacher/TSA Advisor and Robotics Team Coordinator; Sophomore Maddox Gruber; Sophomore Kent Taylor; Sophomore Connor Chapman, Dr. Tyrone Kellogg, Principal; Freshman Olivia Sanders and CTAE Director Lynn Barber.