Powhatan Today, March 24, 2021
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Robotics team overcomes challenges for great season Contributed Report When the 2020-2021 school year began in August, extracurricular activities were secondary to safely getting Powhatan students back in the classroom. As a result, many of the students on Powhatan High School’s S.P.E.A.R. (Sensational People Excited About Robotics) Robotics Team didn’t think they would be competing this year. This was unfortunate because the team has numerous seniors, a couple of which have been on the team for over four years. However, when the PCPS leadership encouraged the team to put together a safety plan for after school meetings and competitions, everyone on the team was ready and willing to do whatever it took to bring some sense of normalcy to their lives. Once the safety plan was approved, the seniors on the team jumped into action and put together a season that culminated in participation at the district championship competition. One of the seniors and long-time member, Freddie Douglas, assumed the role of CEO and led the team as they analyzed this year's First Tech Challenge (FTC) game: Ultimate Goal. The objective of the game was designed as such where teams would have to pick up small foam rings and launch them into different goals of varying heights as well as hit certain targets to score points. The students chose to focus on picking
up these rings and being able to effectively and efficiently launch them into the goals and hit the other targets. Once this was decided, the students were ready to design and build prototypes to be able to accomplish these objectives. In the beginning, one of the senior members, Jeremy Paden, designed a simple drive train, a four-wheel drive base, used to attach ring launchers or pickup devices that were designed and built. Two of the leading members, senior Leanne Lightsey and freshman Elaina Buczkowski, worked together to create a prototype they called The Catapult. This prototype was designed so that it launched the rings vertically into the goal. While they were working on their prototype, another prototype was being built by senior Nico Rodriguez and junior Mira Strong. It was designed as a channel that had gears and motors that launched the rings at a high rate of speed. At the same time, a third prototype nicknamed The Arc was being designed and built by seniors Landon Hooks and Victoria
Payne. This prototype involved a single wheel spinning over 7,500 rpm in the middle of a curved path for the ring to pick up speed and fire into a goal with relative accuracy. After testing these prototypes, The Arc was the most reliable, and therefore was chosen as the team’s launcher and attached onto the robot. Once it was attached, a 3-D model of the robot was created by junior Erik Glanden to allow the students to visualize the placement of the other parts necessary to make the robot function (pick-up mechanism, control board, battery). The team faced numerous challenges this year, such as a limited number of students participating and available work hours due to the pandemic. One specific challenge was junior Hanna Nash being all virtual throughout her involvement in the programming of the robot, which made communication harder throughout the design process. Throughout the design, build, and testing process their eyes were on going to the district championship.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Powhatan High School’s S.P.E.A.R. (Sensational People Excited About Robotics) Team had a great season and participated at the district championship. Shown are, above from left, Freddie Douglas, Jeremy Paden, Lizzie Dickson, Bob Benway. Shown left are Leanne Lightsey, Marcellus Beasly, Erik Glanden, and Elaina Buczkowski. Top left is their robot.
This year, the team competed in two different South Eastern Virginia Regional Qualifiers. The first regional qualifier showed the students that they needed to improve the robot’s autonomous programming. High school senior Elizabeth Dickson was a key contributor in the improvement of the autonomous code. At the second qualifier, the team was a part of the winning alliance, which qualified Powhatan S.P.E.A.R. to compete in the district championship. The district championship consists of the top 40 of 350 teams in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. This is the third con-
secutive year the team has competed in the district championship. Even during a pandemic, Powhatan S.P.E.A.R. was still able to build a district championship qualifying robot. The team did as well as they hoped and managed to learn valuable lessons for future competitions and careers. Throughout the season, there have been many opportunities for members to further their own development as engineers and emerging adults. Specifically, the team members worked on their communication, collaboration, and problem solving skills while having fun building a robot.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly in this timeframe, the team has been a great resource for the students’ mental health as many members have stated that they enjoy coming to meetings to unwind after a stressful day of studying and completing work at school or virtually at home. Powhatan S.P.E.A.R. would like to thank their gracious sponsor, the Curtis Foundation, for their generous support. Without their contributions, the team would not have been able to acquire the resources they needed to be able to progress as far into the competitive scene as they did.
CRIME REPORT Arrests • One male was charged on March 10 with assault and battery (Misdemeanor).
RAISES Continued from pg. 1
most recent projection – which hadn’t been seen by either board. The school division’s version of its budget was projected at $50,554,827 while Smither’s budget was $50,340,688 – a reduction of $214,139 over what the school division was budgeting. After the school division received information about the level of funding it could expect from the state, $24.5 million, the amount was higher than originally projected. That amount included the state portion of what it would cost to give all school division employees a 5% raise. The state only pays its part on Standards of Quality (SOQ) positions, which is about 62% of the division’s workforce. However, instead of absorbing all of the state money increase, as the school board’s version did, Smither’s projection decreased the local contribution to the schools, creating the difference of $214,139 in the two versions. Neither versions presented by Jones or Smither have been approved by their respective boards. And while the school board asked for the 5% plus targeted raises and some of the supervisors gave supportive but noncommittal responses, at the end of the night, the
• One male was charged on March 11 with petty larceny (M) and larceny from a motor vehicle (M). • One male was charged on March 12 with shooting, stabbing with intent
budget’s future direction was still unclear. The evening was also punctuated by several passionate speeches from Powhatan teachers talking about either the role teachers played in the lives of students in the last year or specifically about the issue of raises and compression. Nancy Taylor, a Powhatan High School math teacher, brought up the issue of salary compression and how teachers with more than 23 years of service were making less than a teacher in that position would have made in 2008. The salaries ranged from $400 to $3,500 less than the same position made in 2008, depending on the years of experience. Several other teachers, including some with more than 23 years of experience, also spoke on issues such as compression, the need for raises, health care benefits for retirees, Powhatan’s competitiveness in attracting and retaining employees, and the simple desire to know that their work is appreciated. The two boards and county staff covered a wide range of topics during the three-hour meeting.
Employee compensation A large portion of the discussion about the FY 2022 budget centered on the issue of employee
compensation. Members of the two boards talked about how competitive Powhatan is in terms of salaries and benefits when stacked against their neighbors. The discussion touched on both retaining qualified employees and hiring new ones rather than losing them to other localities. The board members discussed information Jones provided about how the county ranks in a comparison with 13 other schools on how their salaries compare. Jones said the goal wasn’t to be at the top of the pack in terms of salaries but somewhere in the middle and definitely not in the lower end, where most of the positions he highlighted were located. A good portion of time was spent discussing the school board’s thoughts on a 5% employee raise for division staff. To be eligible to receive state funds for the raises, the school board could either give a blanket 5% raise to all employees or give targeted raises to employees that add up to the total amount of the 5% raise for all employees. Either option carries a price tag of $1.45 million, with $722,531 from the state and the local portion being $727,303. A great deal of discussion centered on targeted raises – both questioning why the compression of teachers with more than 23 years of experience has
(Felony). • One male was charged on March 13 with driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated (M). • One male was charged on March 15 grown so much and why it wasn’t previously addressed by the school board. Jones said that the school board has addressed compression on two previous occasions in recent years but the salary scale faces compression at all levels and usually has to be addressed in the areas with the greatest needs when the funds are available. Jones said it would take $127,183 to give raises that target compression for certain long-term teachers to get them above what the same position (in this case specifically teachers) would have been paid in 2008 at the corresponding years of experience.
FY 2022 budget Beyond compensation, some of the discussion around the FY 2022 budget centered on expected enrollment and Powhatan’s Composite Index. Jones pointed out that because of the county’s Composite Index, Powhatan has lost a total of almost $4 million in state funding since FY 2016. Part of the reason the school division gets dinged every year on the Composite Index is because the county only does assessments every two years instead of annually. During the public comment period, commissioner of the revenue Jamie Timberlake advocated for
with aggravated sexual battery – victim under 13 years (F). • One male was charged on March 15 with driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated (M).
annual assessments and pointed out the state rewards localities for taxing citizens fairly and equally on the fair market value of their property and punishes them for not doing it in a timely manner. When asked about lower enrollment and how it impacts staffing levels, Jones said the administration looks at the issue every year and makes decisions based on that year’s enrollment and needs. This turned into a broader discussion about state funding for SOQ positions and how many more employees are needed over that amount. Board members and staff also discussed how Powhatan’s per pupil cost compares not only to the state but other comparable jurisdictions. Originally the school division was asking to fund six new positions, but that request has been narrowed down to a school counselor position mandated by the state, a bookkeeper at Powhatan Elementary that has been vacant a year, and an assistant director of transportation.
Health insurance The boards have been happy to learn that county employees would not see an increase on their health insurance premiums this year. Instead, last week’s discussion about health insur-
ance premiums and coverage focused on two main issues: the difference in county and school division contributions toward health care and a benefit the school division offers of covering a portion of retirees’ premiums while they are still under age 65. On the employer cost comparison, Jones gave a detailed comparison of how the county and school division differ in their contributions to employee health care and the costs that would be incurred if they tried to equalize it so they were using the same approaches. There were a few key areas where the county and the school division differ in their compensation plans. The county pays a larger percentage of the employer contribution, and to bring the school division up to the same level would cost $336,240, Jones said. The county also offers employees who choose not to take the county’s insurance an annual $1,000 payment. The county currently has 37 employees using that benefit, at a cost of $37,000. If the school division were to offer it to the 189 employees currently not using its insurance, it would cost $189,000. The other main difference between the plans is that the county offers a lower contribution to its employees’ Health Savsee RAISES, pg. 8