Every year, the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) sponsors a competition for high school students as part of an ongoing effort to promote interest in engineering and technology careers. And every year, ARHS students eagerly take on the challenge of that competition and shine.
Known as TEAM+S (Test of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science), the annual competition gives students scenarios of possible real-life situations and asks students to apply their technical knowledge to solving problems in those contexts. This year’s scenarios take place at various theme parks, where a problem might be the feasibility of adding an inversion loop to a roller coaster or optimization of the queues for waiting to go on a ride. The students participate as a team, answering both multiple choice questions and open-ended questions. According to JETS, TEAM+S is designed to inspire "creativity, teamwork, critical thinking and valuable insight into the world of engineering."
Last spring, JETS recognized the outstanding career of ARHS science teacher Val Veneman and 20 years of ARHS participation in the TEAM+S competition. The March 2008 issue of The Pre-Engineering Times describes ARHS as "a dedicated school with ample supply of talented students" and points out that "over the 20 years that Amherst Regional High School has participated in TEAM+S, they have ranked in the Top Ten in their division in the national competition 18 times." A picture in the article shows Veneman standing in front of an impressive array of JETS trophies. More important than the trophies, however, is Veneman’s role as a mentor, "helping to open the world of engineering to over 700 students" who participated in the TEAM+S competition over twenty years.
This year, science teacher Dr. Patricia Blauner is carrying on the tradition of participation established by Veneman. In the 2009 TEAM+S competition, ARHS fielded 6 teams, with 32 boys and 15 girls taking part. Of the 1200 schools competing nationwide, only one school sent more teams than ARHS. The JETS Club is open to students in grades 9 -12. Teams which include seniors compete at the Varsity level, while other teams are designated as Junior Varsity. This year, ARHS had 3 Varsity teams and 3 Junior Varsity teams. Principal Mark Jackson expressed his admiration that 47 ARHS students would choose to spend their Saturday solving very difficult math and science problems
Blauner maintains a web site for the JETS team, provides counsel to students as they prepare for the competition and runs the local event. This year two parent volunteers, Andrea Tulenko and Peter Blier, assisted in proctoring the exam. According to Blauner, the students really look forward to this event. Junior Hannah Varner says she first got involved in JETS last year "to just have fun trying to solve semi-impossible problems." It is a unique competition in that the team members work together on a single test. It definitely gives them a sense of the team work and camaraderie that makes engineering such a rewarding field. Varner, a member of the JV A team this year, is interested in an engineering career because "the possibilities in engineering seem endless." She adds that she wants to be able to help people and engineering seems like a logical path for that.
Students often tell Blauner how interesting it is to work on non-textbook problems. For one of the questions, Varner worked with partner Charlie Kannel on a long-response essay about potential research to perform with bottle nose dolphins and beluga whales at a water park in the off season. This was not a question they had been expecting, she says, but even so they worked out some solid ideas by polling other students on their team and thinking creatively. Students show a lot of independence in forming teams and preparing for the test, with each team preparing to the extent that they have time. This allows them to participate even if they are involved in a lot of other extracurricular activities. Blauner feels that our teams have always done well in this competition because they are such well rounded students.
As in past years, ARHS made a strong showing in the 2009 competition. Here are the team rankings at the state level, within our division:
Varsity A: 3rd place
Varsity B: 4th place
Varsity C: 5th place
JV A: 1st place
JV B: 4th place
JV C: 3rd place
The JV A team will advance to the national level of competition, with results due in mid-April. See a list of all the team members and details of team scores on the ARHS JETS website, along with more photos of the students.