Birmingham elementary school students win trip to Kennedy Space Center

After becoming Eastern United States Robotics Champions, a group of 10- and 11-year-old students from Birmingham are being rewarded with a trip to the Kennedy Space Center.

In November, the Birmingham City Schools’ Martha Gaskins Elementary School’s robotics team swept multiple categories in a national robotics competition.

“This is going to be a very powerful experience for the kids,”said Martha Gaskins Elementary School fifth-grade teacher and robotics coach Yuvraj Verma.

The students started fundraising right away to pay for their tickets to Cape Canaveral. School board members also helped by posting on their social media accounts to help raise money.

“In five years of learning, they’re already champions in robotics. Just imagine what an additional eight years of learning in BCS schools can do. What these students will be and become,” said Neonta Williams, Birmingham Board of Education President, in a recent board meeting.

Impressed with the students efforts school board members voted in favor of paying the rest of their way to Cape Canaveral.

“They will never forget this for a lifetime,” said Martha Gaskins Principal Herbert Blackmon.

Verma said many of his students have never been outside of the state, let alone on a plane. The trip is scheduled for May of this year.