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Monogrammable Jewelry and Key Chains Free Gift Wrapping Cashier Use #449894000442 % Off 33 We now carry OTBT Shop Monday-Saturday 10-6 Page 2 Sunday, May 15, 2016 The Anniston Star The Anniston Star Graduation Joy Pinckard has a plan, and at 18 she’s almost through with it BY ZACH TYLER 2016 [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS JACKSONVILLE — Joy Pinckard felt the spark at 14. COUNTY SCHOOLS It started with a book, she said recent- ly, one her mother bought her new for Alexandria ...................Page 3 Christmas that explained about engi- Anniston. 3 neering and how to build tiny machines The Donoho School ................ 4 from paper. Faith Christian ..................... 5 She took what she learned and used Jacksonville Christian .............. 6 it, building a two-legged, walking robot Jacksonville ...................... 6 powered by an electric motor taken from Ohatchee ......................... 8 a toy car. Pinckard used aluminum foil to Oxford. 9 wire batteries up to the engine. Piedmont ........................ 10 “When I got that motor working,” Pleasant Valley ................... 10 Pinckard said, “I knew at that point what Sacred Heart. 12 I wanted to do.” Saks ............................ 13 Now 18, Pinckard will graduate from Trinity Christian ................... 13 her homeschooling program this month. Walter Wellborn .................. 13 She’ll do so already a sophomore at Weaver ......................... 14 Jacksonville State University. For the last White Plains ..................... 15 two years, Pinckard has been a full-time student at the university, participating in an accelerated high school program that Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star AREA SCHOOLS saw her taking college courses for dual Joy Pinckard with a robot she built. enrollment credit. Central High School of Clay County . 15 “The opportunity to do this, in addi- “I gutted it out and rebuilt it,” Pinck- games, with titles like Extreme Lawn Cherokee County ................. 17 tion to my own drive to learn things,” she ard explained outside Ayers Hall, point- Mower and Spook Maze. She’s self-pub- Cleburne County .................. 18 said recently on the college’s campus, ing to the more powerful microchip she lished a children’s book. Handley ......................... 18 “has put me in a very good position.” used to replace the robot’s outdated Pinckard likely has two more years of Harvest Home School ............. 19 Pinckard, a computer programmer, brain. college left, she says, “but that’s still very Lincoln .......................... 19 is studying applied manufacturing engi- Pinckard attributes much of her suc- much ahead of other students coming Munford ......................... 20 neering with a focus on automation and cess now to her family’s move to Jackson- out of high school.” Ranburne ........................ 20 design — a mouthful, she admits. ville, where her mother, Donna Perygin, There will be a celebration May 13, a Randolph County ................. 22 “I normally shorten it and say, I’m got a job at JSU as an assistant professor kind of graduation ceremony, at Web- Spring Garden. 22 going to be working in robotics,” the of chemistry. The teen never felt much at ster’s Chapel Baptist Church, where Wadley .......................... 23 teenager said. home in Tennessee. Pinckard leads the Wednesday night Woodland ....................... 23 Ayers Hall, the home of the univer- “You know what I wanted to do in children’s worship group. sity’s computer science, mathematics, Oakland? Paint nails,” Pinckard said. She’ll don a cap and gown to get the and engineering courses — that’s where “Nails and hair — I thought that’s what feeling, then she’ll play video games with SPECIAL THANKS Pinckard spends much of her time. people did.” her friends. “I practically live here,” she said. Her mother’s oldest daughter, the sec- After college, Pinckard plans to go Sue Magouirk, Debbie Reaves, It’s where she takes her favorite ond-youngest of four children, all home- straight to work. Ben Cunningham, Jessica Akridge classes, like the one associate professor schoolers, Pinckard says she gets a rush “I actually want to be a toy designer,” of computer science David Thornton from solving tough problems. she said, especially of electronic toys. Cover photo by Stephen Gross teaches on video game design. That attitude — at least some of it, “Toy design is everything that I love “Joy is one of the best students I’ve Pinckard said — came from her mother. doing.” had in my 12 years of teaching,” said “We never said, ‘Girls don’t play with It’d be a perfect combination, she Thornton, who plans to show at JSU’s hammers,’” Perygin said recently from thinks, of the fields she most enjoys: spring Preview Day a game Pinckard her office at JSU’s Martin Hall, where game design, programming, and work- worked on as a way to attract prospective she’s studying ways to reduce pharma- ing with kids. Check out the digital students. “Her teammates would charac- ceutical drug testing on animals. And it started with that book her terize her as aptly named.” “I’m a single mom, so if anything mother bought for Christmas, which edition online at A member of JSU’s robotics club, needed to be fixed, I was right there Pinckard keeps on her bookshelf at AnnistonStar.com/grad2016 Pinckard especially enjoys programming doing it,” Perygin said. “She was handing home. robots. Take “TJ,” short for Talrik Junior, a me the hammer.” decades-old wheeled robot she’s repur- Pinckard’s designed and written or Staff Writer Zach Tyler: 256-235-3564. posed. helped to design and write eight video On Twitter @ZTyler_Star. The Anniston Star Sunday, May 15, 2016 Page 3 ALEXANDRIA HIGH SCHOOL ANNISTON HIGH SCHOOL Joy Pinckard has a plan, and at 18 Class: 160 Commencement: 8 p.m. Thursday, May 26, Lou Scales Stadium Class: 118 Baccalaureate: 2 p.m. Sunday, May 22, Mount Zion Baptist Church Commencement: 7 p.m. May 26, Lott-Mosby Stadium Baccalaureate: 9 a.m. Sunday, May 22, Anniston High School Performing Arts Speaker: Ms. Briana Gregory, a she’s almost through with it VALEDICTORIAN CANDIDATES young professional in the field of nutrition and food safety Ellie Marguerite Morris FOR GRADUATION PARENTS: Jeff and Robin A-F VALEDICTORIAN Morris of Wellington Cinthia Diane Lee Albright, Christopher Paul Apple, Charles Michael GRANDPARENTS: Joyce Mattie A. Logan Askew, Kiyerra Ganesiah Atoigue, Alyssa Page Austin, Margaret Hues Aus- Morris and Gail Cobb, both of tin, Zachary Chase Austin, Sarah Nicole Ayers, Zacharias Isaiah Bagley, PARENT: Richard and Regina Logan of Anniston Bowden, Ga. Michael Tyler Baird, Devin Wayne Barker, Joshua Kent Beasley, Brooklyn GRANDPARENTS: The late adoptive grandpar- ACTIVITIES: Senior High Grace Beason, Alexis Caprice Beck, Savannah Rae Beck, Megan Ann Bell, ents James and Mattie Wilson of Anniston and the Student of the Year 2015, late Martha Hembree of Oxford Jonathan Elijha Benfield, Donnie Wayne Black II, Madison Paige Boyd, Miss Alexandria High School ACTIVITIES: National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Brianna Michelle Brown, Jordan Taylor Brown, MiTea Demi Wright Brown, 2015-16, Who’s Who “Senior Theta, AHS Top 100, varsity basketball, Early Allison Leann Bumpus, Caleb Michael Byrd, Lindsey Marie Cain, Nicholas Class Favorite” and “Most College Enrollment Program at Gadsden State Com- Vaughn Caldwell, Ahmad TreVon Carmichael, Logan Ryan Chandler, Chey- Likely To Succeed,” Junior munity College, completed more than 60 college anne Chapin, Deji Chen, Christopher Ray Clark, Tiffany Elizabeth Clotfelter, High Student of the Year 2013, credit hours, was on Dean’s list and President’s list Madison Danielle Collins, Meghan McCall Comer, David Douglas Craig, National Honor Society, Robed Choir, Senior Robed and will receive an Associate’s Degree in Medical Jeremiah Justin Crook, Kady Lei Curvin, Sierra Brooke Daugherty, Morgan Choir President, Christian Club President, Varsity Office Administration in August, enjoys singing and Faith Davis, Taylor Marie Dean, William Cody Dodd, Abigail Beau Donnolly, Girls Basketball. participating in the Gaines Chapel A.M.E Church Joshua Dylan Edmondson, Marah Theresa Nicole Faulk, Mackenzie Grace COLLEGE: Plans to attend Samford University on Choir. Foote, Nathan William Foote, Alyssa Hunter Ford, Malik DeAnthony Francis a Leadership Scholarship, Academic Scholarship COLLEGE: Plans to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a Potts Scholarship, majoring in science and on a Mary Ella Scales Scholarship and major in biology or biomedical religious studies with a concentration in pre-health. G-L sciences on a pre-medical track, perhaps participate in their choral She plans to become a medical missionary. Philip Levell Gaddy, Tori