On May 31, Jacksonville Beach Mayor Fland Sharp presented three eighth graders at Fletcher Middle School with a Key to the City for honoring to the community with their second-place finish at the national Science, Engineering, Communication, Mathematics Enhancement Program (SECME) engineering competition at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
SECME is an organization that encourages students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The engineering competition includes bridge building, two-liter bottle rocket design and launch, mousetrap car design, essay writing and poster contests.
Students Andy Hunt, Ryan Carroll and Jason Kirkwood entered the mousetrap car competition, and finished in the top 10. They had to create a car out of mousetraps using only the trap's spring to power the vehicle. Each car was evaluated on its design, accuracy in blueprints and technical report, and the distance traveled. The students also had to participate in a team interview.
While waiting for their interview, the boys also competed in the design and launch of a two-liter soda bottle in the national bottle rocket competition. They finished second among the 50 teams from all over the nation and several countries.
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