Lewiston High School students place fifth overall at virtual Thomas Cup

WATERVILLE — Greater than 100 college students from faculties throughout Maine — together with Lewiston — participated Friday and Saturday within the sixth Annual Thomas Cup, a contest for highschool college students that includes science, expertise, engineering and innovation.

The competitors, organized by Thomas School in Waterville, invited groups from everywhere in the state to unravel issues in classes together with cyber protection, esports, pc science, robotics and crime scene investigation.

Whereas the competitors focuses on expertise, contributors want extra than simply technical expertise — the very best groups mixed a mixture of challenge administration, innovation, creativity, teamwork and management to beat challenges and defeat opponents, in response to officers.

Jasmine Robinson, Noah Williams and Braedyn Stockmar take part within the 2021 Thomas Cup, held nearly this 12 months. Contributed screenshot

This 12 months, the competitors needed to be held nearly due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lewiston Excessive Faculty junior Omar Osman, a member of the varsity’s staff that positioned fifth total within the competitors and fourth in innovation and design pondering, mentioned it was “essentially the most enjoyable I’ve had in awhile.”

“On this time the place we’re unable to work together with associates as a lot as we used to, it was good to have the ability to giggle and chat with one another whereas working in direction of first place within the cup,” mentioned Osman, who’s vice chairman of the Class of 2022.

Arianna Barley, a sophomore at Waterville Senior Excessive Faculty, was a member of the “Waterville Worms” staff. Waterville additionally had a staff known as “Waterville Senior Excessive Faculty Pc Science II.” Barley labored on the esports problem, which concerned touring round a digital island and looking for hidden treasure.

“It was a brilliant easy and noncomplicated recreation,” she mentioned, “and it was an actual enjoyable expertise.”

Contributed screenshot

Barley is a scholar in Jamee Luce’s pc science class at Waterville Senior Excessive Faculty, and Luce was the Waterville groups’ coach. An artist who sketches and paints, Barley mentioned she hopes to attend school for graphic design as a result of she is excited about changing into a tattoo artist. That occupation, she mentioned, includes computer systems.

“The tattoo business makes use of digital drawing apps to make their tattoos,” she mentioned.

The staff from Maine Faculty of Science & Arithmetic in Limestone was the general winner of the competitors, which awarded as much as $10,000 in scholarships to Thomas School for members of the profitable staff, however first and second locations have been awarded in all classes.

The Messalonskee Excessive Faculty staff, additionally coached by Luce, who coaches a robotics staff at that faculty, positioned second within the Thomas Cup crime scene investigation problem.

Luce and Gardiner Excessive’s staff facilitator, Debra Butterfield, mentioned Sunday that Thomas School put quite a lot of work into the occasion and made it accessible to all college students, no matter ability stage.

“Logistically, it was very well achieved, very well organized when it comes to the coed expertise,” Luce mentioned.

Butterfield, a teacher-librarian at Gardiner Excessive, mentioned she couldn’t say sufficient about Jim DeLorie and Amanda Nguyen, who organized the occasion for Thomas. The weekend occasion was the final problem in a sequence of 5 competitions held in December and January, with almost 200 college students collaborating throughout week-long challenges in preparation of the ultimate occasion. College students acquired to listen to from a Central Maine Energy Co. consultant and an knowledgeable at Microsoft Corp.

Contributed screenshot

“That was so inspirational to them, to have an knowledgeable within the subject be capable of assist them,” Butterfield mentioned.

Delorie and Nguyen despatched an electronic mail Saturday to contributors, thanking them for his or her involvement. It learn:”This was a VERY shut competitors, and we simply wish to reiterate how impressed we have been with every of you for all of the perseverance, teamwork, essential pondering, and creativity that went into your work on these challenges. Congratulations and thanks!”

The Gardiner staff, with members Jasmine Robertson, Braedyn Stockmar, Noah Williams, was “Tigers Create!

Waterville Worms members have been Barley, Malaki Baker, Kaydan Doughty and Buffy Courier.

The Waterville Pc Science Group II members have been Robert Stillkey, Eva Burdin, Donald Riopelle and Darius Seavey.

The Messalonskee staff included McGlauflin, Owen Hargrove, Ryland Woodside, Ethan Labbe and Ian McCurdy.

Luce, the Waterville and Messalonskee coach, famous the occasion was sponsored by companies trying to make use of individuals with expertise comparable to these utilized by college students within the Thomas Cup.

“It was framed as a enjoyable and funky expertise,” Luce mentioned, “but it surely’s additionally growing expertise which can be necessary for his or her futures.”

She defined that college students had 24 hours to finish 4 duties and a further process that was optionally available.

Within the crime scene investigation problem, college students got clues and instruments to unravel crimes.

Within the innovation problem, college students have been requested to make use of easy objects discovered round the home, comparable to plastic cups and popsicle sticks, to construct a catapult.

Within the robotics process, they have been requested to program a robotic.

And within the esports “thoughts craft problem,” they wanted to seek out the hidden treasure.

Messalonskee senior Aiden McGlauflin, 17, was a part of the five-member “Infinite Loop” staff. McGlauflin did the robotics problem, and he and his teammates additionally did the esports occasion. Some college students stayed up all evening Friday and into Saturday morning engaged on the issues.

“You needed to take a code from a preexisting library that they had arrange and inform the robotic to attract a form,” McGlauflin mentioned of the robotics problem. “At first, it was a really grueling course of as a result of it’s a coding language I’m unfamiliar with. It took a couple of hours to get used to writing issues. I completed up at about 3 within the morning, and determined to take a nap till 6.”

McGlauflin mentioned he plans to main in plant biology and/or structure when he attends school. He has utilized to a number of faculties.

Different faculties that took half within the Thomas Cup: Belfast Space Excessive Faculty, Casco Bay Excessive Faculty, Dexter Regional Excessive Faculty, Freeport Excessive Faculty, Marshwood Excessive Faculty, Massabesic Excessive Faculty, Previous City Excessive Faculty, Piscataquis Group Secondary Faculty, Ridgefield Excessive Faculty, Spring Grove Excessive Faculty, Waldo County Tech Heart — Area 7, Waynflete Faculty, Westbrook Excessive Faculty, Westbrook Regional Know-how Heart, Windham Excessive Faculty and Yarmouth Excessive Faculty.

Together with Thomas School and Thomas School Esports, the occasion’s sponsors have been Central Maine Energy Co., Educate Maine, Unum, Microsoft Corp., Challenge Login, WEX Inc. and AT&T.

Matthew Daigle, a workers author with the Solar Journal, contributed to this text.

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