Mutual teams win big at contest

Friday, April 3, 2009

"According to the judges, our team displayed outstanding performance on all judgment criteria," said Mutual instructional assistant Cynthia Duck, who served as the team's co-coach along with special education teacher Estella Altorfer. Both coaches had double reason to be proud as their sons, Bradley Duck and Joseph Altorfer, were team members. Calvert Middle School student Emily Beavers acted as the team's student mentor.

"The kids had to come up with a way to design [a robot] to work like they wanted it to … we utilized dominantly two different arms that were meant to push and pull," said Cynthia Duck of her team's flat robot, which was constructed from Legos.

Duck added that the Mutual team, comprised of four boys and three girls, also came in second place for the "Robotics Award" and the "Champions Award" was the final prize announced. More than 60 teams from elementary through high school participated.

"They really came together as a team. It was a very diverse group of kids … [who] became very dedicated and very much enjoyed doing this," Duck said.

The victory, however, was not without challenges and some pre-contest nerves.

"It was exciting but I was really, really nervous to see what was gonna happen," said team member Kayla James, 10.

"I was scared I was gonna mess up during the robotics challenge," added Joey Wightman, 11.

Lauren Miller, 10, agreed adding, "We knew we would do good but we were worried that other teams would do a little better or were just like us, but overall we were really confident."

The College of Southern Maryland in cooperation with BAE Systems, Dominion and several other sponsors held the competition as part of the of the STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – initiative, which is meant to encourage children to consider careers involving the four subjects. Both coaches believe the STEM mission was successful with this particular event.

"One of the neat things was that on the ride home the kids said ‘do we have to stop?'" Altorfer said.

For Brownen Hollinger, 10, the initiative made her more excited about science in particular.

"In class we'd be listening to the teacher and sometimes it would be a little boring and sometimes it would be fun, but we didn't realize [until participating in the competition] how fun it could be," she said.

"It wasn't just fun that we were doing good; being there was the funnest," said Brady Santerre, 10, whose school principal said that his analysis was right on the money.

"Winning was an added reward," said Mutual Elementary School Principal Lisa Wisniewski, who told all of the team members, "You all know how proud we all are of you and what you represented for our school through your hard work, teamwork and perseverance."

"It brought out a brand new side in each of these children," Wisniewski later said.

Duck agreed, saying she was thrilled to hear several other teams and spectators say that the Mutual students seemed like one of the most excited groups at the competition.

"We'll have some younguns going into science and engineering, I'm pretty sure," she said.

lbuck@somdnews.com