In the region’s first school-sponsored drone racing competition, Red Bank High students broke new ground as they took to the air in timed trials. While the Academic Honors Physics class initially thought only Red Bank High students would be involved, other contestants included a 6th grade student from St. Jude School and a nurse-anesthetist candidate from UTC, who discovered information about the competition online.
Though some of those contestants brought more advanced first-person drones, the day’s winner was Chandler Elias, who piloted his palm-sized Radio Shack kit-built device through the obstacle course and into glory in the shortest time around the track.
He was also bestowed a gift certificate, courtesy of Elder’s Ace Hardware in Red Bank.
The Red Bank Drone Squad said, "Meaningful, relevant educational experiences for the community is a mainstay of Red Bank High School, so developing a Drone Racing Club as part of its Honors Physics class was novel, but not surprising. To demonstrate the relevance of the concepts, and incentivize students to apply their learning, physics students were tasked to build drones from kits, design and construct an indoor obstacle course, as well learn piloting skills for small, unmanned aircraft. The completed course included several elevation changes, pass-through obstacles, and even a student-built catapult hurling objects into the flight path.
"This ambitious project not only made learning more fun, it also developed crucial skills such as Project Management, Teamwork, Event Promotion and Cooperative Competition, preparing students for employment opportunities they may not have otherwise considered."
On the way to the final goal of the race, Academic Honors Physics Teacher Mary Manning focused her instruction on the laws of motion, simple machines, electricity and electronics in a series of small products and research opportunities. As a true professional learning community, students also looked to their colleagues for their expertise. Colleague Leah Keith-Houle and the students in her Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class, like senior Evan Buttram, had experience flying drones for mapping purposes and contributed their knowledge to the cause. Mr. Buttram had the honor of being the first drone pilot in the competition to complete the course.
The idea was given wings one afternoon when Red Bank alumnus and Radio Shack Assistant Manager, Sean Sewell chatted with his former physics teacher. He offered to be available to check the progress of those students assembling the kits, and soon after, Mrs. Manning found herself partnered up with Radio Shack in Red Bank where manager Edward Zackery was able to lend a significant discount on the drone kits so that more students could participate.