Martin Middle School hosted a robotics competition on Thursday for the first time in school history. Students from J.E. Terry Elementary School, Valley Grande Elementary School and Brantley Elementary School competed too.

It’s great to see local schools continue their robotics programs all the way through the year. You may remember each fall schools compete in the Selma BEST Robotics competition at Wallace Community College Selma for a chance to advance to the state competition at Auburn University.

It would be easy for the schools to stop their programs in December, but instead teachers and administrators have made the extra effort to continue the program throughout the year.

Robotics exposes students to math, science, engineering and technology related fields, which will help them when they compete for college scholarships and, ultimately, jobs in the 21st century.