THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607190179
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT MCCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 108 lines
The miniature elevator runs on time and as smoothly as cars in a real high-rise.
The soil vapor extraction system is a working model that actually sucks contaminated air out of a simulated underground tank and into a safety storage container.
The projects were good enough to earn two teams of Deep Creek High School students first- and second-place honors in the Technology Student Association's national competition held in late June in Louisville, Ky. The contest drew more than 2,500 sixth- through 12th-graders from around the country to compete in 30 categories of academic and technological competition.
Rising senior Ryan Brooks and 1996 graduate Jason Watts' elevator won the electronics/electricity category.
``I felt good about our chances, especially looking at the other projects,'' Brooks said. ``Theirs were competitive, but ours just looked so much better. It was not easy to build, but once we finished it, it was running right and looking good.''
Watts said the project had been attempted previously.
``Students here have tried to build an elevator before but couldn't complete it,'' Watts said. ``To finish it and then win the nationals was great. We were confident, but not cocky.''
Rising senior Alandus Morris and 1996 graduate Michael Martin placed second in the technological systems category for their model of a soil vapor extraction system, used to clean up toxic sites.
``I was happy to get second because it was the nationals,'' Martin said. ``It was tough competition. The people who beat us, we beat at the state level. They were from the Governor's School in Richmond and had a nuclear waste disposal system.''
The Deep Creek teams had to advance through regional and state contests before making it to the nationals. Students from other Chesapeake schools, including Great Bridge, have won in past years, but this year the city's only finalists came from Deep Creek. The victory is a first for the school.
``Deep Creek has made it to the top ten before, but this marks the first time we've taken a first and a second,'' said Deep Creek principal Nathan Hardee. ``This just shows what an outstanding technology program we have.''
The students received accolades from the School Board and in early July were presented achievement awards by City Council.
The first-place students began working on their project in November, assisted by Deep Creek High School electronics teacher Kevin Pace, who took both teams to Louisville.
``They're very hard workers,'' Pace said of the winners, who often put in 15 hours a week on the project. ``They're very mechanically inclined.''
The elevator will be on display in the education exhibit at the Virginia State Fair in Richmond in September and October.
``The combination of the mechanics and electronics set the project apart,'' Pace said. ``The weight of the counterweight and the weight of the elevator car had to be intricately balanced in order for the car to operate properly on the pulley system. Four complete circuit boards were required for the elevator's operation, and each board had four relays. We designed these on the computer and built the boards in the classroom. It's a very complex process.''
The second-place finishers' project was modeled after equipment used in the cleanup of pollution. Pace said the system also was unique at the competition, noting that it was an actual working model, unlike some other projects that were one-dimensional flat displays. Students Morris and Martin began working on the design in December.
``The project was a little of everything,'' Martin said. ``We got a lot of information from the Internet and used chemistry and electronics to build it. I did most of the research. Alandus built most of it.''
Deep Creek communications teacher Kevin Wong helped Morris and Martin with their project.
``A lot of display and research work was required,'' Wong said. ``The desk-top publishing and Internet research was the tie-in to communications.''
The teacher emphasized that the projects would not have been successful without the support of the students' parents and the Chesapeake school system, which has given financial backing to technological programs.
The projects were not judged only on physical design. The units must be presented with a full description, a parts list, schematic drawing and a demonstration for the judges.
``It's not just the building,'' Pace said. ``The research and presentation are the key factors in the competition.''
Pace is a graduate of Old Dominion University, where he took classes taught by Fred Culpepper, then a professor in technology education and now a volunteer consultant to the Chesapeake Public Schools.
``The kids blew out the convention,'' Culpepper said. ``The rare thing is having a first and second place from one school. It's a rather remarkable achievement.''
Graduate Watts plans on going to ECPI in the fall to study electronics. Martin will be attending Marymount College in Arlington, Va., and plans to major in communications. Morris is now in summer boot camp and plans to join the army and train in electronics after he graduates next year.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Brooks, again assisted by Pace, already is working on a project for next year's technology competition.
``It's a secret project,'' Brooks said. ``But it will be better than this year's. I can't look back and say that I built something less than what I built for last year.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Michael Martin and Alandus Morris, not pictured, won second place
for for a model of a system to clean up toxic sites.
Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Deep Creek high student Ryan Brooks, left, and graduate Jason Watts'
elevator won the electronics/electricity category at the Technology
Student Association's national competition held in June.
Michael Martin and Alandus Morris, not pictured, won second place
for a model of a system to clean up toxic sites. by CNB