By Tyler Lillard

Patterson High School held its 4^th annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition on November 17th, pitting teams of students against each other in a variety of challenges.  There were approximately thirty teams of four students each, including one middle school team and two visiting high school teams.  First, the students met in the auditorium with their teams for the orientation.  Then the competition began in the breezeway and near the auditorium.  The competition was fierce, and the students had a lot of fun competing.  The judges had fun also.

During the competition, each of the six stations was an activity related to one of the four STEM areas (science, technology engineering and mathematics). While some activities were easy, others were very challenging. Stations included a zip line challenge, a double egg drop, a math page, a paper rocket, an aluminum foil boat to hold marbles, and a tower that is supposed to hold a tennis ball on top of it to withstand an earthquake.

Industry partners served as judges, including representatives from AT&T, the Baltimore City Fire Department, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Whitman, Requardt, & Associates, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Morgan State University, and Booz Allen Hamilton.  Many Patterson teachers and staff members also served as judges. Another industry partner, Northrop Grumman, sent their video crew and recorded our whole competition including the awards ceremony.

After the students went through the six different stations, they went to the media center for lunch while the judges tallied up all the teams’ scores.  After lunch the winners were awarded trophies, and everyone received a certificate of participation. The winners are as follows:

1^st Place: Sarah McLaughlin, Sonia Mbock , Stephanie Megginson

2^nd Place: Indigo Newsome, Tori Jones, Parshu Nepal

3^rd Place:  Salah al deen Al-Batayneh , Baha al deen  Al-Batayneh ,and Hassan Al Defaaei

This year’s STEM competition brought attention to some of the incredible talents that Patterson’s students have to offer, while also allowing participants to have some fun. Many students are already looking forward to next year’s competition in the hopes that it will be even bigger and better.