North Point, Somers Teams Named Overall MESA Winners

LA PLATA, Md. (April 1, 2016)—Teams from 10 Charles County Public middle and high schools placed in the secondary Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) competition held March 31 at North Point High School. Student teams compete in competitions that test their abilities in mathematics, engineering and science.

Milton M. Somers Middle School was named the overall middle school winner and North Point High School was named the overall high school winner.

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

As the overall winning schools, teams from Somers and North Point advance to the state competition scheduled for May 19 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Additionally, teams from Matthew Henson Middle School and Westlake High School advance to the state event as first-place winners at their respective levels in the Prosthetic Arm Challenge. Winners in the Prosthetic Arm Challenge at the state level advance to the national competition held in June.

Middle school teams compete in four challenges: Interactive Game Design with ALICE, Hovercraft, Basswood Bridge and Prosthetic Arm. The high school teams also compete in four competitions: PYTHON Cyber Robot Challenge, Battleball Robot, Basswood Bridge and Prosthetic Arm.

The following teams placed at the middle school level:

ALICE Interactive Game Design:

• Piccowaxen Middle School, first place;

• Matthew Henson School, second place; and

• Milton M. Somers Middle School, third place.

Hovercraft:

• Piccowaxen, first place;

• Somers, second place; and

• General Smallwood Middle School, third place.

Basswood Bridge:

• Somers, first place;

• Henson, second place; and

• Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, third place.

Prosthetic Arm:

• Henson, first place.

The following teams placed at the high school level:

PYTHON Cyber Robot Challenge:

• La Plata High School, first place;

• Henry E. Lackey High School, second place; and

• North Point, third place.

Battleball Robot:

• Lackey, first place;

• Westlake, second place; and

• North Point, third place.

Basswood Bridge:

• North Point, first place;

• St. Charles High School, second place; and

• Westlake, third place.

Prosthetic Arm:

• Westlake, first place; and

• Lackey, second place.

Charles County Public Schools students competed 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.

CCPS also held a MESA event for county elementary schools on April 1. The overall winner was Dr. James Craik Elementary School. This is the third consecutive year that Craik has been named the overall winner at the elementary level. The elementary results are available on the school system website at www.ccboe.com. More information about MESA is available at http://www.jhuapl.edu/mesa/home/default.asp.