Madison Saunders (bottom left corner) listening intently to our guest speakers.
"PRIDE 1" - Team 15-924
Eddie Burdick - Co-Captain, 8th Gr Collin Armstrong, Co-Captain, 8th Gr Sebastian Valdez, 8th Gr Kishan Patel, 8th Gr *Tyler Hix, 8th Gr *Madison Saunders, 7th Student Volunteer, *Miciah Hopkins - 8th Gr "PRIDE 2" - Team 15-925
*Esther Ferman, Captain, 8th Gr *Joey Sander, 9th Gr - McKinney H.S. *Grant Solomon, 8th Gr *Nick Sander, 7th Gr *Nathaniel Everett, 7th Gr Student Volunteer, *Jada Allen - 8th Gr Student Volunteer, *Angelina Martindale - 8th Gr *Indicates Rookie inexperienced fliers |
P.R.I.D.E. 2 qualification flight earned us an invitation to attend the Team America Rocketry Challenge National Finals the weekend of May 8-10, 2015 at Great Meadow in The Plains, VA. Over 700 teams from 48 states entered this year’s competition with our qualifying score being in the top 100 of the nation. At the end of the contest, P.R.I.D.E. 2 earned the honor of 72nd this year. One might question why anyone would celebrate anything but 1st place. We can! Each team has a story to tell, but ours is not unique or inclusive. Each one of these team's stories will be similar to ours and will leave an indelible mark on the lives of each student, coach and mentor involved. Whether our students choose to be in the aerospace industry, become a biomedical engineer or choose to make a living by creating a unique venue in our business community, these students understand what it takes. They understand team flexibility and appreciation for skills they might not possess as well as individual accountability of skills they do have. A spirit of not giving up in the face of a catastrophic disqualification when an o-ring seal fails. Strength of not being frustrated when the cloud coverage indicates using data for a rainy day when in actuality their designed and tested rocket flew straight as an arrow piercing a deceptively low cloud bank into clear blue skies and ripping through the dry air. That flight resulted in an unfortunate high score thus producing 72nd place. With pride and admiration of the second qualifying round of finals 'oohs and ahhs' could be heard echoing by teams possessing an appreciation of the top 24 teams' scores. An unlikely kinsmanship pride of knowing how each rocket flying though the air represented a hometown pride. Each team giving thanks for the backing of parents, school and community making it possible to share and enjoy a beautiful spring day on the rolling hills outside of Washington, D.C. Yes, 72nd is settling on the hearts of those sitting on the green grass and dreaming of next year. Dreaming, planning and thankfulness is the hope that should be in the hearts of all of us... We were proud to be a part of so many outstanding achievements in aerospace design and rocketry by students throughout the United States. |
Mrs. Gibson and our teams would like to thank:
* Dr. Melinda DeFelice, Career & Technology Education Department of McKinney ISD (CTE); McKinney School Board as well as...
* Mr. Michael Armstrong - Hobson Signs - Parent Mentor
* Mr. Lot Burdick - Burdick Auto Solutions - Parent Mentor
* Mrs. James (Melissa) Everett - Police Officer - Parent
* Mrs. Nelson (Velinda) Ferman - Parent
* Mr. Jason Hix - Texas Instruments - Parent Mentor
* Mr. Joe Sander - Extreme Transformations - Parent Mentor
* Mr. Danny & Melinda Saunders - Texas Instruments/Educator - Parent Mentor
* Mrs. Coke (Korey) Solomon - Realtor - Parent
* Mr. Jack & Suzy Sprague - Dars.org - Mentors
Their support and inspiration is what is driving the Technology teams of Scott Johnson Middle School. Whether volunteering in the classroom, supporting our Student Engineering Club or sharing with PRIDE Robotix or the October Sky Rocketry Team. Without your help, it would not be possible to attempt the challenges and problem solving we do in our sTEAm classes.
* Dr. Melinda DeFelice, Career & Technology Education Department of McKinney ISD (CTE); McKinney School Board as well as...
* Mr. Michael Armstrong - Hobson Signs - Parent Mentor
* Mr. Lot Burdick - Burdick Auto Solutions - Parent Mentor
* Mrs. James (Melissa) Everett - Police Officer - Parent
* Mrs. Nelson (Velinda) Ferman - Parent
* Mr. Jason Hix - Texas Instruments - Parent Mentor
* Mr. Joe Sander - Extreme Transformations - Parent Mentor
* Mr. Danny & Melinda Saunders - Texas Instruments/Educator - Parent Mentor
* Mrs. Coke (Korey) Solomon - Realtor - Parent
* Mr. Jack & Suzy Sprague - Dars.org - Mentors
Their support and inspiration is what is driving the Technology teams of Scott Johnson Middle School. Whether volunteering in the classroom, supporting our Student Engineering Club or sharing with PRIDE Robotix or the October Sky Rocketry Team. Without your help, it would not be possible to attempt the challenges and problem solving we do in our sTEAm classes.