Help Davidson County's Robotics Team Win

Who We Are


We are Yadkin Valley Innovators, the robotics team of Yadkin Valley Regional Career Academy (aka Valley Academy).  

Valley Academy is a regional public high school serving students from across Davidson County, NC. We are the county’s only combined STEM career academy and early college high school.

Our team is the one and only FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics team in Davidson County, NC and we need your support!

We Came So Close Last Year!

We started our team last year with seven members. We worked hard and had a fairly successful year. We went to our first tournament as a rookie team and found out that we had a lot to learn.

By our second tournament, we had learned so much and improved enough to be chosen by the Fourth Alliance Team as an Alliance Partner for the Elimination Rounds that day. (That might not mean anything to someone who’s never been to an FTC robotics competition, but it’s a pretty big deal!)

Unfortunately, we did not make it to the State Tournament last year, but we were extremely close.

This year, our team has grown to 16 members. We are determined to make it to the State Tournament this year and hopefully even further! But we can’t do it without you!

What Your Support Will Pay For

Our team does not receive any funding from the school district, so we need to raise it -- ALL OF IT -- from supporters like you and other sponsors.

Here is just a sample of our expenses:

Tournament Fees and Travel Expenses

 It costs about $100 to enter a competition.

We sometimes have to travel several hours away to compete. That means a bus, driver, gas, etc.  

And of course, we have to eat. Tournaments are on Saturdays and they last alllll daaayyy looongg. We leave Valley around 6 AM and usually do not get home until sometime after 7 PM. Teenagers can put away a lot of pizza and soda. 

We also need to wear team T-shirts -- we want to look good to represent Davidson County! 

Key Components and Parts

Let’s face it, robots aren't cheap.

The smartphones we use to remotely operate the robots are outdated and one bump away from breaking, which will cost $300-$400 to replace. 

We always need spare parts because robots break during tournaments and we have to fix them on the spot. 

The challenge (what we have to make the robot do) changes every year so we have to come up with new designs, which can mean new and different parts. 

Again, we have to find supporters and sponsors like you to make all this happen.

But This is About More Than Competitions. Your Support Means We Can Also Do More Great Stuff for Our Community.  

At Valley, we are always challenged to take everything we do a bit farther and to dig deeper.  That’s why we are doing much, much more than just attending competitions.

For example, our team is also introducing coding and robotics to our peers and to younger students.

Last summer, members of the team conducted a Robotics Boot Camp for incoming Freshmen.

Last month, members of the team taught first graders at Davis-Townsend Elementary coding basics. We hope to do more with the school and maybe some others.

High Point University has asked us to return to their Lego Showcase again this year with our robot.

It would be really cool if we could build a special robot for our work with younger kids, but as it stands right now, our finances only allow us to build one.


As you can see, the Yadkin Valley Innovators team is poised for greatness. Will you make us YOUR robotics team?

Please help us get to State this year and keep sharing the amazing world of robotics with other students. Donations of any amount are welcome and appreciated!

** Funds raised via this campaign will go to the Valley Academy Educational Foundation, which will then pay for the Robotics Team's expenses. **