MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A group of sixth graders will be heading to the nation’s capital to compete in the U.S. Army’s 13th Annual eCybermission.
According to the news release, “the competition challenges students to develop a solution to a real-world problem in their community.”
The team from White Station Middle School is made up of students Ayrika Anderson, Sophia Floyd and Audrey Lambert, and overseen by Science teacher Janice Brown.
For their project, the girls created a prototype of a device that would filter harmful paints, oils and debris from entering storm drains.
After that, they submitted an online mission folder that showcased their steps as they moved through the design process.
Finally, they were evaluated by a panel of professional scientists.
The girls have represented their school and the Mid-South well, earning first place in both the state and regional competitions.
Now their headed to Washington D.C. to compete at the National Judging and Educational Event on June 15.
Just for getting this far, each student will receive a $2,000 savings bond and an all-expense-paid trip to nationals.
The National winning teams will receive $9,000.
White Station also had several other teams to win at the state and regional levels.
Rebecca Reed’s eighth-grade team, comprised of Abra Cadabra, Gabrielle Bray, Avery Israel, and Batya Salomon, won both first place in the state of Tennessee and the regional competition.
Their winning engineering design project was a box to safely contain epi-pens in a classroom to provide fast access to epi-pens.
Another White Station eighth grade team — Smythe Kuebler, George Tood, Louis Todd, and Austin Williams — won second place.
Their engineering design project attempted to create a renewable resource that would power a fan to cool houses in the hot Memphis summers.
Ruthie Bradley’s seventh grade team, comprised of Kevin Luo, Anming Gu, Allen Wu, and Rushabh Joshi, won the first place state title with the project design to find the most cost effective material for resisting acid rain.
The second seventh-grade team included Jonathan Zhang, Justin Kouch, Branden Quach, and Srikrishna Dasari and won as one of the sixty regional finalists.
Their winning project analyzed whether certain pesticides were harmful to the environment, to plants, and to organisms.
Pam Jones’ sixth grade team, comprised of Gabrielle Brown, Julia Antipova, Meredith Cline and Addison Aldinger, won second place at the state level with their inventive engineering design project, a prototype of a hand-crank flashlight.
