SeAL Competition Showcases Local STEM Career Pathways
The Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in partnership with Penn State Extension hosted its 2nd Annual Sea, Air & Land Challenge, bringing together nearly 50 students from five school districts across the region for a hands-on STEM learning experience.
The 15-week program engaged students through robotics clubs and engineering Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, where they designed and built their own land rovers in the classroom. The program culminated in a final Challenge Day held on April 28, where students showcased their engineering innovations and teamwork.
As a part pf the challenge, each team was tasked with writing a Preliminary Design Review, a 10-page document that was critiqued by professionals and returned to the students prior to robotic development. The students then applied the feedback to build their robot, while staying within the proposed budget. On challenge day, students practiced public speaking and communication skills when giving their elevator pitches to the panel of judges. The students also presented and explained their budget breakdowns, a noteworthy financial literacy accomplishment.
Congratulations to Columbia Montour Vo-Tech on earning the top score along with $1,000 to invest in their robotics program. The Foundation would also like to congratulate Bloomsburg Area High School for earning the Best Innovation Award. This $500 award is presented to the team demonstrating the most creative and innovative approach throughout the challenge. Great job to all teams that competed this year!
The Foundation extends its sincere appreciation to Carriage Manor, Commonwealth University, and Fulton Bank for their generous sponsorship and support of the program. Their contributions helped make this opportunity possible for students throughout the region. The Foundation also thanks PPL Electric Utilities and its drone demonstration team for providing students with an engaging look into aviation technology and emerging local career opportunities, as well as Benesch for delivering an informative civil engineering presentation that connected classroom learning to real-world infrastructure and engineering careers.
“We are extremely proud of the hard work and determination these students demonstrated,” said Taryn Crayton, Vice President of the Columbia Montour Chamber Foundation. “Programs like this give students the opportunity to explore future local careers in STEM fields. Seeing their ideas come to life on Challenge Day was truly rewarding for everyone involved.”
The Columbia Montour Chamber Foundation also thanks the many volunteers and participants who helped make the program a success. Through Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) funding, the Foundation was able to fully fund participation for each school district, covering the cost of building materials used by students throughout the program.
The Sea, Air & Land Challenge reflects the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to expanding educational and workforce development opportunities for students across the region through STEM programming and community partnerships.