Over 30 students from Montgomery Catholic participated recently in the TEAMS competition, finishing 1st at the new Middle School level, 1st for the third straight year at the 9th-10th grade level, and 4that the 11th-12th grade level. TEAMS is hosted by Auburn University and sponsored by the Technology Student Association.
TEAMS stands for Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science. Groups of up to eight students compete by responding to questions on a global engineering theme. Past themes include solving the world’s water needs and meeting the world’s growing energy needs. This year’s theme was “Engineering a Secure Cyberspace.” Students researched topics such as protecting private data, preventing software attacks on web sites, and securing wireless networks against hacking.
Montgomery Catholic is the only Alabama school to compete at all three levels. Team sponsor Joe Profio explains, “TEAMS gives our students real world applications of science and mathematics on important problems with no easy solutions. Open-ended essay questions encourage them to develop and justify new ideas.” Middle school coach Vicki Petters agrees, “By adding the middle school level, young students learn the connectivity between math and science, and see why they need to be proficient in these subjects.” Senior Zach Hulcher adds, “Before TEAMS I really didn’t know the scope of problems engineers take on. After four years in TEAMS, I realize the difference engineers make in the world, and I now plan to major in engineering after graduation.”
Montgomery Catholic students that participated are:
From the Middle School campus: Luke Craig, Danny Do, Nicolas Homsher, Morris Lottinger, Henry Petters.
From the High School campus: Gaten Armstrong, Somlee Baek, Paige Barranco, Dylan Craig, Kenneth Dickerson, Ann Faulkner, Andrea Hayes, Zach Hulcher, Derek Kelly, Ashley Kim, Jinah Kim, Joonhee Kim, Jihyun Lee, Garrett Libby, Jarrett Mason, Mary McLaughlin, Stone Miller, Madeleine O’Mara, Patrick O’Mara, Elizabeth Overton, Leo Petters, Guillermo Ravelo, Robbie Stakey, Sang Won Seo, Giselle Simms, Katherine Terino, Chase Williams
