07-04-2025
The Tennessean Student of the Week returns: Vote now for best in Esports, STEM, robotics
What do robotics, STEM and Esports have in common?
A whole bunch of math, and some really bright students. It's also the focus of this week's Tennessean Student of the Week poll.
Seven students were nominated after The Tennessean asked Middle Tennessee high schools to send us their best in robotics, STEM and Esports.
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the terminology, here's a crash course: Robotics involves the design, construction and use of robots. STEM is an acronym ― Science, Technology, Engineering and Math ― that refers to an educational field using all 4 interconnected disciplines. And Esports, short for electronic sports, refers to organized video game competitions.
Each week during the school year, The Tennessean asks Middle Tennessee high school principals, guidance counselors, teachers and staff to send us their best students in different categories for our Student of the Week feature.
We then let you, the reader, decide who deserves the title by voting in our weekly poll. Check on Monday morning to vote in our next poll at the link below. Remember, voting ends at noon on Thursday, so be sure to vote early.
But first, learn more about the students nominated in this week's poll and what their nominators said about them:
His contributions "have redefined what's possible through esports," Landon's nominator said. Described as the driving force behind his team, Landon has the athletic passion and determination to overcome any obstacle. He was integral to Tennessee's first-ever undefeated Unified Esports League Regional Championship. This achievement was a testament to Landon's unwavering spirit and leadership. As an athlete with special needs, he has been the heart and soul of his team; through his infectious humor, relentless drive, and ability to unite his teammates. He embodies the true spirit of esports.
The junior has been on the esports team since his freshman year and has been the team captain for the past two years. Braden manages team communications and scheduling and is in charge of running practice sessions while taking several honors and AP classes.
The freshman has stood out as a well-rounded and driven student, excelling in computer programming languages, while actively participating in Band and the Science Olympiad team. Malachi is enrolled in honors classes and currently pursuing his first CompTIA certification as he exemplifies the spirit of a future STEM and Cyber leader in Tennessee.
A sophomore in the school's Academy of Engineering, Fynn started as a coder, but manufactures parts on 3D printers, and is a driver as well. Fynn was able to press an Alpha controller back into service when Beta lost all WiFi capability during a technology event. Fynn is described as being willing to listen to ideas and can improvise when necessary.
The sophomore and second-year robotics student has stood out being willing to try and learn new things and his willingness to work well with others and help when needed. Dylan has managed his team and excelled at documenting the design process with the engineering notebook. Dylan is described as having a "can-do" attitude that makes him an ideal leader.
A leader in the classroom and with the robotics team, this junior leads his team and gives every member the opportunity to be involved and provide ideas. He is also very involved in other extracurricular activities and clubs here at GHS. He has a 4.0 grade point average and is enrolled in Dual Enrollment classes. He just finished directing a short film for his Audio Visual class. He was featured by News 2 as a Student Musician of the Month in October 2024.
The robotics team member at Beech had the drive that was crucial in starting a VEX V5 robotics team at the school. Adam came in as a freshman who had been on the robotics team at Knox Doss Middle and wanted to pursue robotics in high school. Adam showed he was very well versed in robotics building and coding and with he and his teammate's level of confidence the school was able to start a new team. Adam and his teammate worked hard to develop their robot and code it to perform in the school's competitions that got off to a good start and is planning for next year.
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@ and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Esports. STEM. Robotics. The Tennessean Student of the Week is back
