For Grenada High School’s Navy Junior ROTC team members, finishing the 2020-21 season couldn’t have ended on a higher note as the drone team finished tops in the country.
The GHS NJROTC Bravo Company Drone Team recently claimed first-place honors at the Aerial Drone Competition in Huntington, W.V. The Robert C. Byrd Institute in conjunction with the Robotics Education Competition Foundation near Marshall University hosted the event.
“This was a huge win for this program and goes to show just how hard everyone of our cadets have worked,” NJROTC Chief Newtroin Foreman said. “We took two teams there and we manage to finish first and second.”
Students were tested on how well they controlled the drones with a remote control during a competitive round that involved trying to gather more ping pong balls than the opposing team. They were also tested on their coding skills by programming the drones to move through an obstacle course on their own.
Seven teams participated in the programming skills test where drones had to move through arches and hoops in under one minute to see how many points they could rack up. The students could receive anywhere between zero and 103 points, depending on how many obstacles they conquered
Sophomore cadet Avery McMechan, drone programmer for Grenada High’s NJROTC, said the Grenada team saw this as a remarkable experience, but knew they were some of the best in the business.
“In the competition, you have guys that’s been programming drones since the fifth grade,” he said. “Well, I’ve been programming them since the sixth grade, so I knew we could travel there and make a statement.”
Each team had five chances to run the course in order to get the highest score. In the end, both of Grenada High’s teams came out on top.
Commander Kimhong Kangheng said the drone was able to fly farther than expected on its own and he was happy with the outcome.
“I was super excited and very happy because we just had to keep trying and keep rewriting the code and it finally worked; not perfectly, but really well.” the recent graduate said. “It feels great for our first competition in West Virginia.”
Since Foreman’s arrival as Commander at GHS in 2013, the program’s numbers have double from 55 cadets to 110 in 2020-21. When he started at the high school, the program had already had its NJROTC status dropped due to the lack of cadets. Today, the program is one of the most recognized in Mississippi. By the numbers, the GHS NJROTC is now one of the highest ranking high school programs in the South earning Top 50 honors in high schools from Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana.
“It’s not just drones and presenting flags at football games either,” Foreman concluded. “The NJROTC has more than two dozen programs that include cyber patriot, which trains cadets about cyber attacks, brain brawn, athletics and others. We’re not just putting on uniforms and marching here. Each cadet in this program has a role. By the time they make it to the next level, they’ll more advanced than just carrying rifles and marching. They’ll be ready.”
