BHS team takes second in STEM League competition

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield High School took second place in a NJ Interscholastic STEM League competition hosted by the school on Friday, March 4. Members of the home team were seniors Alyssa Maquiling and Jacob Gayatinea; sophomores Grace Perrotta and Daven Howard; and freshman Michael Brzostek. The STEM advisor is BHS teacher Michael Warholak.

STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The competition involves the physical construction of an experiment and STEM teams have two chores that are judged: construct a physical experiment to overcome the natural forces which will bring a moving object to rest; and make an oral presentation of the endeavor.

For a STEM League competition, the hosting school determines the construction. The seven teams representing six school districts last week were required to construct a turbine, or propeller, that would remain aloft like a helicopter. A small fan on the floor directing the wind was positioned before several judges for the demonstration and evaluation. The turbines were tethered to the floor to prevent them from flying off, away from the power source of the wind.

STEM teammates have to hit the ground running. The students did not know until four days earlier that they would be the BHS STEM team. And they only had an inkling until they arrived at the site, the old gym called “the Pit,” what they had to prove.

The students were provided with the material to construct the turbine, such as paper cups, string and plastic fan blades, and guidelines that read like a communique from a “Mission Impossible” episode.

“Wind power in not a new concept,” the guidelines said. “You will design and construct a scale model wind turbine generator to demonstrate the qualities of stability and aerodynamic design. Each team will have a set amount of materials. You get what you get and don’t get upset. Devise a way to make your turbine remain in a stable position for 30 seconds once deployed and released. All teams must use both plastic cups to make their turbine. You can glue the open end of bottom of the cups together as you prefer. Air speed will be taken using an anemometer at the time of testing. You may use this reading in your calculations.”

It was not an easy task, once constructed, for any of the turbines to stay aloft for 30 seconds. But when they did remain airborne for a length of time, there was a sense of elation for every observer. The main problem for the Bloomfield contingent, according to freshman Michael Brzostek, was that the turbine was not tethered properly to the floor.

After the demonstration came the presentation. The teams were sent before a panel of three judges seated in an equipment room. Two of the judges, Mica McGhee-Bey and Louis Rodriguez, worked at the Picatinny Arsenal. The other was BHS alumna Halah Mohamed, Class of 2013, now a student of biological sciences at Rutgers University.

Presentation was a significant part of the competition; for the Bloomfield team, sophomore Grace Perrotta did most of the demonstration.

“A majority of the students want to be engineers,” Rodriguez said. “If you have an idea, you must be able to articulate it.”
The teams at the competition included Northern Highlands, Waldwick, Governor Livingston, New Providence and Pascack Valley high schools. Northern Highlands, which brought two teams, won first- and third-place trophies.

All the schools are members of the STEM League, only in its second year, with BHS one of the four original teams. The league was started by Waldwick High School teacher Jim Drechsel and now has 22 teams. According to Drechsel, the ideal STEM team should have students adept in one of four disciplines: researcher and documenter; builder; science and mathematics, and communicator.

After Bloomfield was announced as the second-place winner, Warholak said he was thrilled and a little surprised.
“I didn’t know they’d pull it off,” the teacher said.

Warholak said BHS will have two teams at the next STEM competition, scheduled for May 24, at Northern Highland High School in Allendale.

“I think the results today will encourage kids,” he said. “Our league is really gaining momentum and I think people are actually realizing the importance of these academic ‘sports.’ Trophies are great but kids who grow from an experience like this prove to be the real rewards in the long run.”