City students win at state

May 09, 2008 08:07 am

— Stillwater Junior High School and High School students recently competed at the state Technology Students Association competition in Oklahoma City and qualified for the national competition to be held in Orlando, Fla., in June.
TSA is a national organization that encourages students in the engineering and technology fields.
It allows students to compete on state and national levels in various areas including design, innovation, problem solving and architectural modeling.
TSA also requires students to attend leadership conferences and attend regular meetings.
To qualify for nationals, the students had to be in the top three in at least one area of competition at the state level.
The Stillwater students received six awards: first place in Formula One Design Challenge (F1) and in Problem Solving, second place in Inventions and Innovations and in Architecture Model, third place in Electrical Applications and fourth place in Career Connections.
Supported by Formula 1 President Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 event has students use CAD (computer aided design) and CNC (computer numerical controlled) programs to design and manufacture a CO2 powered race car.
The students must present their ideas and car to a panel of judges as well as race the car.
This year marks the fifth year in a row that Stillwater has won the F1 challenge at the state level. In 2004, Stillwater TSA took fourth place at the national event.
For Problem Solving, the students must score in the top 20 of an online test and then solve a design challenge that they have not previously seen.
Architecture Model students must design and build a scale model of a home that includes energy efficiency and ADA compliancy.
They must also provide floor plans and a detailed notebook.
Students competing were Haley Hendricks, Natalie Fieldsend, Paige Christy, Austin Mitchell, Katie Knobbe, Justyn Stine and Pete Storm from SJHS and Rachael Fieldsend and Corybeth Heien from SHS.
The students’ goal is to compete at nationals this year. Although they have already done some fundraising for the trip, they still need approximately $6,750 for all nine students to attend.
Last year, the students were unable to make the trip to the national competition because they did not have enough money for everyone to go.
Anyone who would like to help the students attend the national competition can contact their adviser, Trevor Fieldsend, at Stillwater Junior High School at 533-6420.