Project Lead the Way scores big at the yearly JPL Invention Challenge

On Nov. 17, Project Lead the Way (PLTW) senior students, led by their teacher Breanna Snyder, placed first at the 2018 JPL Invention Challenge Los Angeles Regional Competition. This team of students is preparing to participate in the finals in mid-December against teams from across California.The contest required teams to construct an object that would be able to maneuver a plastic pipe that was placed on two support stands, into a vertical stance on a small platform. The first team to complete the task would place first. Fittingly, this year’s competition was entitled the “Upright Pipe Contest.” Samo’s time of 2.26 minutes was enough to defeat the other 56 teams who were involved in the contest. This is the seniors’ fourth year in PLTW but this was their first opportunity to participate in the challenge as only the senior students are permitted to compete. Last year’s seniors placed eighth in last year’s competition and were the first class to enter the competition at Samo. Snyder discussed the preparation the students did for the competition which began in August as well as the legacy the seniors will leave for younger members of PLTW. She also expressed pride in the students for their competition success. Snyder’s students separated themselves into two teams and chose two team captains who would be in charge of managing the team members, grading the projects and assigning the team members their tasks. “I as a teacher got to manage and the kids did [the work] themselves. [Achieving first place] was a huge accomplishment so I know, the juniors who will be seniors next year, are going to feel pressure and I teach both the junior class and senior class. I think the legacy is [having set] really high standards [for future teams],” Snyder said.  In previous years, PLTW has struggled to raise enough money for supplies, but this year the class has come together to facilitate various fundraisers. Principal Dr. Antonio Shelton allocated money for the program as well. Therefore, as opposed to prior years, the team did not face a financial disadvantage.One of the team captains, Jordan Arney (’19), discussed the preparation which his team did prior to the competition in order to ensure their success. Arney also chronicled what he did as a leader to create a collaborative environment. “We thought everything out in advance and did not [initially] finalize [any of the project components] where other teams jumped the gun. We delegated positions and [determined] what everyone was best at. [Including] people working on the parts lists and the budget so there were people who were not working on the project but how we could afford it which was also important,” Arney said. Kaiden Krepela (’19) participated in the competition and also spoke about how the teams ensured that all of the members contributed to the creation of the device. Also, Krepela described the process which allowed for the construction of the successful device. “Originally, we all had to come up with our own ideas for ways to solve the problem. [After] we as a class [assigned] two team leaders, we brainstormed ways to better these ideas. A lot of ideas involved the use of electricity which is very unreliable but a lot of it was [figuring out] ways we can use these ideas and still make this work,” Krepela said. Using a combination of ideas and skills from each team member, the PLTW seniors were able to imagine and build a complex and efficient device which carried the team to victory and secured them a spot in the finals.