SUBMITTED TO CONNECT-BRIDGEPORT

 

The Bridgeport Middle School 8th grade Robotics Team has been working very hard this year to solve the current traffic issues during school pickup and drop off.

 

Each year the students pick a new project which should revolve around either helping the environment or helping the community. The students decided that they wanted to take on the school traffic problem to hopefully resolve the ongoing issue in the mornings and afternoons.  The robotics team is a group that consist of 11 (eleven) 8th graders who meet after lunch to work on solving the traffic problem that will not only benefit the parents but the school buses and local traffic. 

 

Once the plans were in place Gregory Noone contacted local Engineering firm Ascent Consulting & Engineering and invited them to visit the school to look over their ideas and give them guidance on their project.  Keith Axton from Ascent Consulting and Engineering volunteered his time on Tuesday afternoon to sit down with the 11 students along with an additional 4 (four) 7th grade students who are interested in solving this problem as well.

 

The idea was to build a tunnel type of roadway to eliminate the traffic around the school. The students explained to Mr. Axton their idea to tunnel under the road, but they were unsure about the cost and how it would work with the structures of the school already existing. Mr. Axton told the students they had a really cool idea but then helped them discover a more cost-effective plan. The children worked with Mr. Axton to come up with new ideas and solutions to the traffic problem that were cost effective as well functional to the structures already existing. 

 

The Bridgeport Middle School Robotics Team is continuing to work hard to get their plan out and have the problem solved before they graduate. The team members are: (Teachers) Mrs. Pill, Mrs. Daugherty, Mrs. McCue  (Students) Collin Mayers, Gregory Noone, Bradley Dale, Garrett Smith, Alana Chen, Hannah Jeffers, Victoria Baldwin, Caroline Deniker, Elaina Beckwith, Shivam Patel, Grant Lively, Zachary Ayoob, Vaughn Evans, Salmaan Mahmoud. 

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the BMS robotics team with Keith Axton, while Axton works with students in the bottom photo.