FCPS participates in 29th Annual Frederick County Tech Fair

In an effort to highlight and promote Career and Technical Education (CTE) in FCPS, middle school students taking CTE classes are busy honing their skills as part of the 29th Annual County Tech Fair. Throughout February, students are working on skills, knowledge and components for the competitions listed below that are tied to their related CTE course curriculum.

Winners of the classroom competitions or judging who advance to school level competitions will go on to represent their school in the county championships during “Engineering Week” beginning Tuesday, February 22. Winners will be announced Friday, March 4. Competitions are: 

  • All Wound Up: Two sixth-grade students from Technology Exposition classes construct rubber-band cars and adjust the specifications to travel the greatest distance.
  • Hunger Game: Teams ranging from two to four students from sixth-grade Food Science classes create a “healthy snack” based on special specifications to promote healthy eating choices. 
  • Scratch & Computational Thinking: Teams of two to three sixth-grade Lab 21 students develop a creative solution or bring awareness to a social or global issue through the use of Scratch, an MIT coding platform.
  • Edison Bot Relay: Two seventh-grade Invention and Innovation students pair up to program Edison Robots, designed to be a complete STEM teaching resource for coding and robotics education, to compete in a relay race that requires precision and timing. 
  • Web for a Purpose: Two seventh-grade Computer Science Investigation class students program a website in HTML that promotes awareness to a topic of their choice. 
  • Hovercraft: Teams of two eighth-grade Pre-Engineering students put their designed and constructed hovercrafts through a timed trial across a specified distance; the fastest hovercraft wins.
  • Cupcake Wars: Teams of two to four eighth-graders from Life Skills in Society compete in a cupcake decorating competition based on a deliciously appealing theme of their choice.

Students or parents who want to know more about the classroom competitions, should reach out to any middle school CTE Teacher. For more information about Tech Fair please contact Career and Technical Education Coordinator Norm McGaughey or CTE Administrative Secretary Julie Carter at 301-644-5188.