Howard County Schools Excel in 2023 State STEM Competitions

June 13th, 2023

Several Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) schools took home top honors at the Maryland State Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Day competitions held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory on May 13. In addition, students from Patapsco Middle School qualified to represent the state in the MESA national competition being held later this month in Albuquerque, N.M. More than 40 students from eight HCPSS schools took part in the May competition, which brought together students from eight Maryland school districts.

HCPSS students participated in several different science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) challenges during the state competition, including:

• Mobile App Challenge – Create an app that can help people address a health issue in our society.
• Wearable Technology – Design a respiration monitoring device for a breathing prosthetic infant.
• Expanding Structure – Design and build a highly efficient expandable structure for transport & deployment.
• Storybook Theme Park Ride – Design and construct a Theme Park Ride based on a book of their choice. (Elementary students only.)
• National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC) – Demonstrate the Engineering Design Process by implementing a Human-Centered design approach to a client’s needs using various technologies. (Middle and high school students only.)

HCPSS schools placed as follows in these challenges:

• Hanover Hills Elementary School – 1st Place, Wearable Technology Challenge
• St. John’s Lane Elementary School – 1st Place, Expanding Structure Challenge
• Patapsco Middle School – 1st Place, Wearable Technology Challenge
• Patapsco Middle School – 1st Place, Expanding Structure Challenge
• Patapsco Middle School – 1st Place, National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC)*
• Atholton High School – 1st Place, Expanding Structure Challenge
• Long Reach High School – 2nd Place, Wearable Technology Challenge
• River Hill High School – 2nd Place, Mobile App Challenge
• River Hill High School – 2nd Place, National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC)

To qualify for the state-level competition, schools had to place first at the Regional MESA Day, which was held in April. More than 500 students in grades 4 -12 from 17 HCPSS schools participated in the regional event.

This year’s HCPSS MESA program included more than 500 students from elementary, middle and high schools across the county. Maryland MESA is a STEM initiative for students in grades 3-12 and designed to spark their interest in STEM education and STEM careers.