Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) teams recently competed in the regional Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) Showcase held on April 1 at North Point High School. Overall winners were selected at the elementary-, middle- and high-school levels.

Projects challenge participants’ know-how and imagination. “We get to do things that we haven’t done before,” Grace Colbert, a Billingsley Elementary School fourth-grader, said. “You can make friends and make creations,” Colbert’s teammate, Billingsley fourth-grader Nashaun Jones, added. “And maybe we can make something that will make us famous.” Jones and Colbert were on a team that designed a mobile app to help hearing people better communicate with people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Teams that earned a first-place award at the Charles County regional event advance to the state-level competition. The advancing teams are from J.P. Ryon, Walter J. Mitchell, and William A. Diggs elementary schools; Matthew Henson and Piccowaxen middle schools; and La Plata and North Point high schools. They advance to the virtual state showcase set for May 7 hosted by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

First-, second-and third-place teams in each challenge receive awards and one overall winner is chosen at each level. The teams that earn the most points throughout the competition are chosen as the overall winners.

Elementary-school teams compete in four challenges: Mobile App, Storybook Theme Park Ride, Wearable Technology, and Expanding Structure.

The following teams were placed at the elementary-school level:

Mobile App:

  • J.P. Ryon, first place;
  • Mitchell, second place; and
  • Mary B. Neal Elementary School, third place.

Storybook Theme Park Ride:

  • Mitchell, first place; and
  • Ryon, second place.
Mary B. Neal Elementary School students go over their mobile app project during the MESA Showcase. From left are Ashley Busch, Victoria Frierson, Kaiden Joseph and Joshua Edward. Credit: Charles County Public Schools
Nashaun Jones, a fourth-grade student at Billingsley Elementary School, shows a phone that will display an app he and his MESA teammates developed to help people who can hear communicate with people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Credit: Charles County Public Schools
Arooj Nazir, left, a fifth-grade student at Malcolm Elementary School, and teammate Jamis Macaulay look over their wearable technology project at the MESA Showcase. For the challenge, teams design, build and demonstrate a wearable device to keep infants healthy. Credit: Charles County Public Schools
Cris Thomspon, left, a fourth grader at Eva Turner Elementary School, stops to see how his peers at Mary B. Neal Elementary School designed their wearable technology project. Neal students Kaleb Salazar and Zachary Reyes demonstrate. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Wearable Technology:

  • Diggs, first place;
  • Ryon, second place; and
  • Malcolm Elementary School, third place.

Expanding Structure:

  • Diggs, first place;
  • Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School, second place; and
  • Malcolm, third place.

Middle-school teams compete in four challenges: Mobile App, Wearable Technology, Expanding Structure, and the National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC).

The following teams were placed at the middle-school level:

Mobile App:

  • Henson, first place;
  • Theodore G. Davis Middle School; second place, and
  • Piccowaxen, third place.

Wearable Technology:

  • Piccowaxen, first place;
  • Henson, second place; and
  • General Smallwood Middle School, third place.
The expanding structure project challenges students to a structure that will support a certain amount of weight. Matthew Henson Middle School students Morgan Porter, left, Anna Camp, Makena Pauole, Alani Pauloe and Kimberly Flores took part in the challenge. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Expanding Structure:

  • Piccowaxen, first place; and
  • Davis, second place.

NEDC:

  • Piccowaxen, first place; and
  • Henson, second place.

High-school teams also compete in four challenges: Mobile App, Wearable Technology, Expanding Structure; and NEDC.

The following teams placed at the high-school level:

Mobile App:

  • North Point, first place.
North Point High School students pack up their expandable structure project as the MESA Showcase wraps up. From left are Nathan Hill, Amira Abujuma and Timothy Martinez. The students are interested in studying engineering in college. Credit: Charles County Public Schools
Angel McCoy, a graduate of Maurice J. McDonough High School, was the guest speaker at the MESA Showcase. McCoy is a meteorologist with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the Office of Renewable Energy Programs. She shows Mary B. Neal Elementary School students dry ice clouds during a presentation. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Wearable Technology:

  • La Plata, first place.

Expanding Structure:

  • La Plata, first place.

NEDC:

  • North Point, first place.

CCPS teams compete as a separate Maryland MESA region due to a high level of participation. Maryland MESA is designed to prepare students for academic and professional careers in mathematics, engineering, science, and technology.

The program’s goals are to increase the number of engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and related professionals at technical and management levels; and to serve as a driving force in encouraging and assisting minorities and females in achieving success in these fields. For more information about MESA, go to https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/MESA/.  

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