![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
For today’s busy NC teenagers, a sweet treat can provide a desperately needed break from the ravages of school, work and social skirmishes. Luckily, one of their peers at NC, magnet sophomore Samantha “Sam” Diaz puts her entrepreneurial skills to use and fills this need. Last year, Diaz opened her business, Sam’s Sensational Sweets, and wows her customers with a combination of U.S. bakery classics such as her intensely chewy cookies, and the Hispanic goodies close to her heart, including her carefully crafted conchas.
“I sell a bunch of different cookies and I rotate flavors every single week. I was also selling Hispanic sweets like conchas and arroz con leche. I’ll typically have cookies and one Hispanic treat in rotation,” Diaz said.
Diaz balances four Advanced Placement (AP) classes within her schedule along with her participation in numerous clubs, including Young Acworth Aldermen, where she holds the role of secretary and Hydroponics Club, where she serves as Vice President. Despite this busy schedule, however, the young baker wakes up at 4 or 5 a.m. each day to craft her orders fresh and with love. Each recipe displays her signature mark, a necessity to her successful business which shows in her ability to transform pastries even she does not love, such as the chocolate chip cookie, into a favorite.
“I have the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, and the reason why I made it is because I actually do not like chocolate chip cookies. I was determined to find a recipe I actually liked, so I was thinking it had to be crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, it had to have the perfect ratio of chocolate. I hate them [other chocolate chip cookies] because I hate really sweet stuff, so I was like, ‘I’m going to make the best chocolate chip cookie ever.’ Every person who has tried them has told me, ‘these are really flavorful,’ and they’re just decadent,” Diaz said.
While Diaz’s business specializes in cookies and the Hispanic sweets she loves, she hopes to expand the treats she offers. She has explored baking pies, cakes and other classic baked goods in her free time and showcases this talent in her posts. With each treat, her passion for the business shows thanks to the unique spins she put on each. No item fits the cookie-cutter mold of its peers because Diaz aims to create high-quality items that stand above the recipes they stem from.
As her business grows, she hopes to expand the treats she offers, but for now, the local following of dedicated customers allows her to focus on recipes she adores. In the future, Diaz hopes to work in the medical field and pursue baking with the financial stability the career will provide. Whether she invokes smiles through cures or cakes, however, her sweet demeanor will certainly push her to succeed.
“I tried one that was like a snickerdoodle with some kind of frosting on it, I’m not sure what she called it. I’m not kidding, it was the best cookie I’ve ever had. Seriously, it was better than Crumbl,” AP English Language teacher Brooke Payne said.
This story was originally published on The Chant on February 26, 2025.