WALDORF, Md. (Nov. 20, 2008)—A team of Thomas Stone High School Advanced Placement (AP) physics students earned a first-place award in the 2008 Maryland TRAC Design Build Challenge held Nov. 1 at Morgan State University.
Stone seniors Hunter Webber, Joshua Cushenette and Kyle Sanders constructed a 20-inch bridge from wood craft sticks built to sustain heavy weight amounts. Teams were judged by how much weight each bridge could hold. As first place winners in level three of the competition, the students each received a $300 savings bond and a trophy for the school.
They are also eligible to represent the state of Maryland in the national TRAC bridge building competition, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, next May.
The competition was divided into three levels: level one with seventh-and eighth-grade students; level two with ninth- and tenth-grade students; and level three with eleventh- and twelfth-grade students. Students from Baltimore City and Baltimore, Charles, Anne Arundel, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Worcester counties participated and ten three-member teams competed in the competition.
Additionally, Stone senior Nailah Baukman and junior John Carr participated in the competition with Cushenette, as Webber and Sanders were registered to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) the day of the event.
The Maryland TRAC Design Build Challenge is sponsored by the Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration to promote transportation and engineering career opportunities for students.
Source: Charles County public school system