Athens, Ga. – Student teams from Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology and Lithonia Middle School in DeKalb County won first places in their categories in the 2014 Tests of Engineering, Aptitude, Mathematics and Science competition recently hosted by the University of Georgia.
Under the coaching of Lindsay Stamm, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology’s ninth- and 10th-grade team won first place in the High School category while the school’s 11th and 12th grade won second, and Mountain View won third place. Other high school teams that participated include Stone Mountain (two teams), Southwest DeKalb, Tucker and Druid Hills.
Lithonia Middle School, coached by David Thompson, clinched first place in the Middle School category while Duluth Adventist Christian School placed second and Tucker Middle School placed third. Freedom Middle School and Ben Hill Middle School also participated in the competition.
This year’s challenge focused on “Engineering Tomorrow’s Cities.” There were two parts with high school students facing a 90-minute, 80 multiple choice question session and a 90-minute, open-ended, four-question session. The middle school students had a 60-minute, 40 multiple choice question session and a 60-minute open-ended, four-question session.
Two 2014 Northrop Gruman Scholarships were awarded to Mountain View High School and Duluth Adventist Christian School. The scholarship provides funds for team registration to the event.
Participants also heard several speakers during the day including UGA’s Noel Gregg, interim associate dean for research at the College of Education; Charles Kutal, associate dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; and Don Leo, dean of the College of Engineering.
The fifth TEAMS annual event was held on Feb. 19 and organized by John Mativo, associate professor in the College of Education’s department of career and information studies; Chi Thai, associate professor in the College of Engineering; and Nancy Vandergrift. Mickey Montevideo, Melissa Garber and Rashaan Fowles from the College of Engineering assisted in the event. Also assisting were Xue Xing, Jixian Wen and Gregory Wilson, all graduate students in workforce education in the College of Education, and Beatrice Lele, who has been admitted to the doctoral program in workforce education.
More than 14,000 students across the country participate annually in TEAMS competitions. Questions are aligned with national education standards. UGA is one of two sites hosting the competition in Georgia. The other site was Georgia Tech.
TEAMS competition site sponsors include Northrop Grumman, the UGA College of Engineering, the UGA College of Education’s department of career and informational studies and the UGA Office of STEM Education.