The Board of Education celebrated two teams of students from Newtown Middle School, at its meeting on January 8, who earned third and fourth place in the December 7 Cyber Robotics Coding Competition (CRCC), held at the University of Bridgeport.

According to CRCC’s website, crcc.io, it is an “online robotics tournament that engages students in coding.” Andrew Arena and Jackson Baimel participated at the grand finale state level as The Factorials! team, and they earned third place in the competition. Students Noah Massotta and Isabella Pessoa participated in the competition as the NMSCoderz team, and they earned fourth place, as previously reported in The Newtown Bee.

In the CRCC program, Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue explained, students work in a rigorous “coding boot camp” to participate in rounds to qualify for the grand finale.

NMS computer integration teacher Rachel Smith and NMS Principal Tom Einhorn both attended the meeting to support the students and speak to their accomplishments. Ms Smith said the students spent time on their own at home to build their new skills.

“I can’t tell you just how proud of them I am,” said Ms Smith, adding later that it was a “really intense competition.”

Board of Education Chair Michelle Embree Ku and Dr Rodrigue presented the students with certificates to further celebrate the students’ achievements.