Tech Search

The SeaPerch Challenge was the culmination of a 12-week curriculum in the schools' Career and Technical Education Foundations of Technology classes. Students built underwater robots, also referred to as bots or ROVs (remotely operated vehicles), from kits that included PVC piping, a motor, a propeller and a tethered remote.

The event brought students -- primarily freshmen and sophomores -- together to compete against one another on paper and in the water. In the mornings, the students' creations were judged on elements including research and design. After lunch, the students convened in the warm, humid pool area to compete in four underwater events: recovery, maneuvering, collaboration and relay.

For many, it was the first test of their bots in a pool, or in water deeper than a wading pool. For some, the challenge was just to keep their robots working.

Alex Haselbarth and Brandon Harris, both 14 and freshmen at Stonewall Jackson High School, began with the collaboration event, where they worked with another team to turn the handles on a floating dial. The goal was to navigate their robots to the handles and push them, moving a needle on top of the dial and knocking game pieces into the water. The robots would then grab the pieces and bring them to the side of the pool.

The two struggled when one of four propellers fell off their bot. Replacing the propeller didn't work, so they went with only three. Their problems weren't over, though. Their bot was literally sinking.

With perseverance and sideline moral support from their teacher, Joe Jaksic, and Alex's mother, Marion, they removed some of the weights and finished the round, scoring the only point for their team, which also included Robey Moore, 14, and Brandon Humphries, 15.

"Competing is hard," Alex said. The robot "never wants to go straight."

The fact that the boys completed their robot and made it to the event was enough for Alex's mother. "For him to do this, to stay after school, this is a big deal," Marion Haselbarth said. "He just struggles [academically], and for the teacher to sit and work with him, this is just such an accomplishment. I couldn't be more proud of him."

The boys received other recognition, too: a second-place award for Innovative Design and Technology.

Leslie Kirby, Kierra Ayres, both 16, and Amanda Viernes, 14, from Woodbridge Senior High School were one of the few all-female teams at the competition Friday. During their relay, the all-boys team sharing their lane gave them a good-natured hard time until they found out it wasn't as easy as they thought.

The idea for the relay was simple enough: race the robots through the water as fast as possible. Leslie compared operating the bot to playing video games. While judges timed them, each team moved its robot straight down the lane to the turn-around point and back. They all agreed that having only five girls in their class helped, because the girls stuck together and looked out for one another. Collaboration was a key component in not only the pool but also the classroom.

For the first time in the annual event's history, the overall winners from each day -- Paul Warlitner, Bryant Davila, Brittany Davenport and Aaron Kim from Battlefield High School in Haymarket and Cesar Nolasco and Raekwon McKinnon from Stonewall Jackson -- will take their robots to a regional competition April 24 at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

SeaPerch was introduced to county schools three years ago, after two Battlefield teachers, Gail Drake and Mike Piccione, attended a workshop at MIT, where the program was created in a joint venture with the Navy to generate interest in underwater studies. The two worked with engineers from Lockheed Martin, Micron Technology and SAIC to develop a curriculum and training for the county.

The curriculum they developed crosses academic boundaries by addressing 85 of Virginia's Standards of Learning in four core areas. It also reaches into the business community. Funding for the program began with a grant from the Office of Naval Research and has come from SPARK (Prince William schools' education foundation), the Vocational Technical Education Foundation and companies such as Lockheed and Micron, which also have provided mentors and volunteers.

The last day of the competition featured 74 volunteers, including businesspeople, divers from the county police and a diving club, and Battlefield swim team members.

"When I put a call out, people respond for the kids," said Denyse Carroll, regional coordinator for the Career and Technical Education program.

As interest in the program grows, Carroll sees Prince William being a benchmark for other school districts. David Eshelman, supervisor for the Career and Technical Education program, said he hopes to make the event regional, including Manassas and Manassas Park.