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The Alchemy Global STEM Institute won big at both the 2023 Tennessee VEC Middle School and High School State Championship.

At the middle school championship the institute, located in White Pine and manned by area students, had two teams enter to compete among the other 32 teams, 57711N and 57711H.

The first team, 57711N, consisted of Trip Moss and Hayden Lane. This team ended the tournament winning the title of State Champions and won the THINK award.

The second team, 57711H, consisted of Isaiah Walls, Tobin Wilke and Jackson Kniffen. This team ended the tournament in the 7th seed before the final alliance selections.

Against the other 64 teams the institute had one team compete in the high school championship, 57711X, consisting of Maddox Atkins and Bruin Corbett. Their team finished the tournament in the quarterfinals.

Two teams from the institute will have the chance to compete at the VEX World Championship in Dallas, TX in April. The two teams include the high school team, 57711X, and one of the middle school teams, 57711N.

“The state championships are two very difficult tournaments consisting of the top teams from around the state to compete to see who is the state champion and what teams will move forward to the world championship, which is the largest robotic tournament in the world,” said Donnie Moss, AGSI head coach.

“We are very excited about the results,” said Julie Moss, AGSI Executive Director. “We had three of our five teams compete at state and they all ended up performing very well.”

Although the institute is proud of 57711N for winning the championship, it is also proud of the team for claiming the THINK award.

“We are also so proud of our team Zipties (57711N) not only did they win the state championship but they also won the THINK award which speaks volumes to their understanding of robots and coding,” Julie Moss said.

“The award is given to the team who has the best programming mindset at the tournament,” Donnie Moss said. “The judges look at the robot and ask the kids to describe the programming and so the kids have to understand the programming and be able to communicate their understanding to the judges which is a very cool award to bring home.”

However, the success at the tournament didn’t come easily, the students had to prepare for months to ensure they won big.

“The kids have been practicing four to five days a week since August,” Donnie Moss said. “These kids are so dedicated that some of them have called me on Saturday asking if I would be at the lab because they wanted to work on their robot.”

“The students have competed in 280 matches and spent 647 hours building robots since August 22nd,”Julie Moss said. “I have tried to shut down the institute but the students are constantly asking to come in to build and as a parent the idea of them wanting to build and learn how to code and program instead of watching tv, thrills my heart.”

With only six weeks to go before the world championships, AGSI is planning to continue to work hard to prepare for the tournament.

“We have two teams going so we are going to have very focused time with our teams so they can have all the time needed to build and prepare because the world competition is a whole other world,” Julie Moss said. “With the state championship you are competing with people you may have battled with before but when you go to world’s it’s a lot of people you don’t know, so we are trying to help prepare them for a challenge.”

The institute is also preparing to take on the championship with a fundraiser to help fund the trip.

“Starting March 17 we are having a popcorn fundraiser to help support our boys going to worlds,” Julie Moss said. “It’s a simple four day fundraiser where people can click on the link on our Facebook page, pick out what popcorn they want and how much and they also pay for it online and it is shipped straight to their house, so when paying no money goes through our hands. We receive 50% of all purchases so it’s a great margin of money we receive when someone buys some popcorn. All money we receive through this fundraiser will help the boys prepare to go to the world championship.”

AGSI has only been open for seven months and with these wins under its belt it is going to keep the momentum going.

“To win so big at the state championship is overwhelming and exciting and we are just getting started, this is only the beginning,” Julie Moss said. “We are opening up for new students for the next semester and we are so excited to be growing our program even more.”

“I am very excited about success to show that this isn’t just a group of kids playing with robots, that these kids are very talented and intelligent and that they start with some sheet metal and gears and can build functioning robots,” Donnie Moss said.

He also highlighted the importance of cultivating students’ minds with technology for the future job market.

“The more kids we have around here who are learning high tech things and are able to fill jobs the better off we are,” he said. “A lot of the cyber jobs are becoming remote jobs and if the kids that grow up here and we help them love learning about robots then one day they’ll raise their kids here so they’ll have the same opportunities as they did. It will create great economic growth in the area.”

On their website, interested students can have their parents fill out the intent form to request more information and be invited to an informational meeting and open house.

“Our informational meeting is a great time to learn about our institute and ask questions to see if this is something that your kids would be interested in joining,” Donnie Moss said.

To learn more about the Alchemy Global STEM Institute or to support the teams as they prepare for the VEX World Championship, visit the institute’s website or Facebook page.