Eighteen students from Pierce County High School, Patterson Elementary, and Midway Elementary competed at the Georgia Student Technology Competition in McDonough March 1.
Those from Pierce County schools who placed in the competition included Larry Branson and Michael Pennington - second place Multimedia Applications, ninth and 10th grade, and Jesica Nolasco and Lyla Gerard - third in Digital Photo Production, ninth and 10th grade.
Other students from Pierce who competed include Scarlett Taylor of Patterson Elementary and Evelyn Strader of Midway Elementary. There was also a sizable group from PCHS in the competition: Alyssa Raulerson, Brandon Yepes, Zack Taylor, Danny Hayes, Jackson Walker, Naomi Clemens, Sam King, Samarious Joyce, William Samble, Melvin Sallet, Breana James and Nathan Gyesky.
PCHS achieved the best showing from among all schools in the Okefenokee region. Camden County, which won two third place medals, was the only other of 13 Okefenokee school systems to medal at the GASTC.
The annual state championship event saw 1,080 students present 818 projects and included winners from 16 regions, 49 school districts and 320 schools overall.
“The Atlanta-area schools really brought some excellent projects. Fulton County had 34 projects that placed. Forsyth had 33. Cobb had 13, Fayette had 12 and DeKalb had 10,” said Okefenokee Region co-director and GaSTC Steering Committee member Kim Spivey.
Spivey also hoped people realized the importance of Southeast Georgia students staying competitive in the field of technology. She also said local schools and students should be encouraged to keep creating projects that are state contenders.
“In order for us to host a competition, we need around 120 judges. Many judges come from the Atlanta area, including technology companies and some colleges,” said Spivey. “We had two Okefenokee representatives as judges, but we need more representation in the future.”
