Special to The Times
Robotics inherently involves ingenuity. Charlie Craft and Shelby Abernathy displayed that quality in winning the 2021 Alabama Vex IQ Robot Skills Challenge Championship, and earning a berth in the Remote World Tournament later this month.
It was familiar territory for Charlie and Shelby in some ways. While students at Duck Springs Elementary, they joined the school’s Robotics Club in 2018 and along with teammates Tanner Harris, and Gabby Smith, won the 2019 Vex IQ Alabama State Elementary Robot Teamwork Challenge.
Fast forward to 2020-21. Charlie (Etowah Middle) and Shelby (Sardis Middle) moved to different schools. Etowah Middle had to suspend its competitive robotics program because of COVID-19 considerations; Sardis Middle doesn’t have a program.