Students from Port Towns Elementary, William Wirt Middle and Bladensburg High School all won prestigious education awards at the National Communication, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) Challenge. The competition was held on April 16 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.
“We have some of the nation’s best and most talented students here in Prince George's County,” said Dr. William R. Hite, Jr., Superintendent of Schools. “Congratulations to the students and staff for representing our school system at this national competition. Your hours of preparation after school and on weekends for this competition truly paid off.”
The National CSTEM Challenge is designed to engage the three academic levels (elementary, middle, and high) of K-12 education, creating pipeline pattern schools through a project that allows them to work collaboratively on problem solving in areas of: robotics, environmental responsibility, geographical information systems, art, and creative writing.
PGCPS students joined over 70 schools and feeder pattern teams from Houston, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Detroit Michigan; Cleveland, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee and the Dominican Republic. The PGCPS feeder pattern team, representing Bladensburg, Maryland, won the following awards:
· 1st Place Sculpture Competition
· 1st Place Mural Competition
· 1st Place GIS Competition
· 2nd Place Green Competition
In addition, Taiwo Akinnuoye, from William Wirt Middle School, and Elizabeth Osorio, a senior at Bladensburg High School, won the Top Middle School and High School Ambassador Award. This is the second year that Osorio has won this award. Each student received a CSTEM blazer and laptop.
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About PGCPS
Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) is the 18th largest school district in the nation, with 198 schools, over 127,000 students, and nearly 18,000 employees. With an annual budget of $1.6 billion, the district serves a diverse student population of students living in urban, suburban, and rural communities. PGCPS is nationally recognized for its innovative programs and initiatives, including expansion of Advanced Placement courses, partnership programs with business and higher education, and the FIRST teacher incentive program.