DUNKIRK, OH (WLIO)- Quite a few students at Hardin Northern Local Schools are taking their interest in STEM and applying it to the future of aviation.
Meet the future drone aviators from Hardin Northern Local Schools! This drone team consists of the incredible, innovative minds of young students who are preparing for future races including a trip to nationals in May.
"Another thing that goes on with drones in school is a simulator race, which is basically the head-to-head, but they just have it in a simulator that you can do at your school. And basically, that's a time trial of three laps, and every month, they have a different track... And so, they had October, November, December, and January. I came in first in all four of them, so we got an invite to Denver," says Justin Thiel, Sophomore, Hardin Northern Polar Props Drone Racing.
In addition to a competition set for tomorrow at River View High School, preparations are well underway for the national competition as the team came together Monday afternoon in the gym to practice some of their techniques.
"We have, over there, the head-to-head racing, which, at the competitions, that's when two drones fly against each other and see who can make the most laps. And then, we have a small example of the capture the flag, which is you have to fly over a small pillar that has a light on it... And, if you fly over it in the right way, it changes colors, and you have to see who can change the most colors," says Rebekah Allen, Sophomore, Hardin Northern Polar Props Drone Racing.
"The gates and capture the flag... A lot of that is testing the maneuverability of the drone. There's a lot of work that goes into getting the frames just right, getting the motors, the propellers that we think will work the best and just getting that design as perfect as we can," says Carl Woodruff, Junior, Hardin Northern Polar Props Drone Racing.
While flying drones is certainly a lot of fun, the amount of knowledge, experience, education, and collaborative skills as well as personal impact these future aviators are receiving is truly reaching the sky and beyond.
"The big thing is, honestly, not even with the drones but with the presenting. I mean, that's huge in any field that you're going to go into- public speaking, making a presentation, and explaining it as well as you can in as little of time as you can," says Woodruff.
And many organizations have served as sponsors, including GROB, Rhodes State College, and Pegasus, to help make these students' dreams become reality. If you would like to sponsor their organization, you can reach out to advisor Brian Reeves at Brian.Reeves@HardinNorthern.org
