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PICKENS COUNTY—Pickens County students are again competing for top honors during the annual JetToy Challenge

Fifth Grade design teams and their balloon-powered toy cars were to compete Tuesday at the 2013 School District of Pickens County JetToy Challenge on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at the Pickens County Career and Technology.

“Students use principles that professional engineers use,” said Dr. Barbara Nesbitt, Coordinator of Elementary Education. “It’s amazing to watch the excitement as the students build the cars. They learn complex concepts while being completely engaged.”

Two teams from Clemson Elementary, the “Electric Lemons” and team “JDW,” won the International JetToy competition in Detroit, Michigan last year.

Led by their teacher Meredith Cross, the fifth graders were named Grand Champions at the event. The teams included; Jakob Ables, Will Purkerson, Jacob Zambrano, Dylan Hall, Jonathan Dong, and Stone Ke.

The program offers curriculum that blends science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) lessons. Fifth-grade teachers learned about the JetToy Challenge when they attended training for the Society of Automotive Engineers’ “A World in Motion” program.

In the JetToy Challenge, a fictitious toy company asks students to provide a variety of interesting designs for a new line of balloon-powered vehicles that will appeal to other children. The vehicles are made from inexpensive common materials.

Working in design teams, students build and test model JetToys using different nozzles. The students then collect and analyze data to understand the effect of the nozzle size on the performance of the toys.

Approximately 180 students from all 16 Pickens County elementary schools will participate. Three teams will represent each participating school. Teams were selected during classroom challenges.

The two teams with the highest points will advance to the regional challenge, competing with teams form Anderson One, Anderson Two, Anderson Three, Anderson Four and Oconee school districts. The regional competition will be held at Daniel High School on March 1, and will determine which team will advance to international competition in Detroit.

The Career and Technology Center is located at 990 Chastain Road in Liberty. The competition will begin at 9 a.m.