Two teams from Washington Island School once again made a name for themselves over the weekend at the International SeaPerch Challenge hosted at the University of Maryland. Team Flounder (Teagan McGrane, Corbin Kellerman, and Allison Bennett) finished in 22nd place out of 56 middle school teams, while Team Sea Angels (Jaida Mann, Jaylyn Nickchen, and Julia Pratt) came in 40th place. Before landing in Maryland, teams had to submit a video and engineering plans about their underwater robotic vehicle before they went through a course inside the pool at the University of Maryland. Team Flounder especially excelled in the video portion of the competition, taking eighth place overall. Pratt and Bennett made their second appearance at the International SeaPerch Challenge and said having that experience was important.

Nickchen and Kellerman were in awe of the experience, starting with the police escort all the way to driving their robot in front of hundreds of people in the University of Maryland pool.

Their supervisor, Miranda Dahlke says the kids were already talking about what they would do differently next year, although they still have to wait to see what the theme will be. Dahlke adds that they are looking to potentially expand the school’s robotics programming so future high school students like Kellerman can continue to participate. 

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Picture courtesy of Miranda Dahlke