Keith Students Place 1st In Underwater Robotic Competition

Students from Keith Middle School did very well at last weekend's SeaPerch competition at New Bedford High School.  Here's the release from the New Bedford School Department:

Students from Keith Middle School placed first at the 6^th annual Southeastern Regional SeaPerch Derby held at New Bedford High School on December 12, sponsored by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) and the Undersea Science and Engineering Foundation (USEF).

SeaPerch is designed to expose middle and high school students to science and engineering concepts through technical applications to prepare students for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.

At Saturday’s competition at NBHS, students from eight Massachusetts and Rhode Island schools piloted remotely operated vehicles at the school pool, challenging finesse and speed of the student-built vehicles.

Keith’s Grade 6 team of Jonathon Mills, Michael Bilodeau and Jonathan Lawrence took the middle school title, securing Keith’s second consecutive slot at the SeaPerch National Challenge to be held at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., in May 2016. It will be Keith’s second appearance at the national competition under coach Gary A. Maestas.

“This impressive win by our Keith Middle School students is exciting for all of us, but it’s no surprise given the excellent teaching and learning we focus on every day,” said Dr. Paula Bailey, principal of KMS. “We’re looking forward to seeing our Keith students compete in the national competition at Louisiana State in May, and we have no doubt they’ll continue to work hard to impress the judges at national as well.”

To aid the Keith Middle School team on their trip to LSU in May, contributions can be made to Keith Middle School, Attn: SeaPerch Trip Fund, 225 Hathaway Boulevard in New Bedford.