Newark, CA High School Team Beats 99 Other Teams
The Aerospace Industries
Association tells ANN a team from Memorial High School in Newark,
CA won the Team America Rocketry Challenge Saturday, beating out 99
other squads with a near-perfect score.
The team, consisting of Ramon Arias, Anthony Camarra, Donny
Evans, Matthew Jacuzzi, and Emily Thym, came one foot shy of the
altitude goal of 850 feet. The rocket was also .86 of a second from
the perfect time aloft mark of 45 seconds.
"I had a feeling we were going to do well, but I didn't think we
were going to get first," Camarra said, adding that the team placed
11th in last year's contest.
Madison, WI West High School Team 2 came in second, and W.G.
Enloe High School in Raleigh, NC ended up in third.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who presented the first-place
trophy, told the participants the contest is an excellent start to
a journey that can take them as far as their aspirations will lead
them.
"You've taken your first step," Gates said. "Now keep
going."
Newark Memorial shares more than $60,000 in scholarships and
other prizes with other top finishers. Additionally, the winners
will travel to the International Paris Air Show in June thanks to a
prize provided by Raytheon. The earnings include $5,000 in
scholarship money for each of the top three teams, a special
donation by Lockheed Martin.
AIA President and CEO John Douglass said the event once again
shows the promise of a new generation of potential aerospace
workers.
"If the results of this contest are any indication, the future
of aerospace is in good hands," Douglass said. "The winners should
be pleased with their achievement, but every member of every team
should be proud of what they have accomplished."
It was the fifth year of
TARC, which AIA runs along with the National Association of
Rocketry. The Defense Department, NASA, the American Association of
Physics Teachers and 38 AIA member companies sponsored the
event.
Approximately 600 students on the 100 final teams took part in
the competition, in which they tried to get as close as possible to
a launch of 850 feet and a duration of 45 seconds. A total of about
7,000 students on 690 teams participated in the qualifying rounds.
Since the contest started in 2003, about 40,000 students have taken
part.
Last year a team from Statesville, NC Christian School took top
honors.