“We were told to make something that would actually benefit our community and the area around us,” McMasters said. “There’s about 100 deaths a year from shoveling snow … and about 11,000 injuries.”
McMasters hopes to study engineering at Wright State and someday hopes to build roller coasters. He said seeing all the different projects at the Tech Prep Showcase helps.
“It’s nice to see what everybody else does and how everybody else thought of their project,” he said.
Students from Centerville, Dayton Public Schools, Kettering, Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Miamisburg, Stebbins, and Wayne participated Friday.
The keynote address was from Wes Gipe, a business advisor at Aileron, on “How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Things.” More than 100 judges from Dayton-area businesses evaluated each team’s work and talked with students about the planning and execution of their projects.
There was a three-way tie for the in-person “grand championship” between teams from Ponitz CTC and Centerville and Miamisburg High Schools. The champion for the virtual presentations was a police/traffic project from Stebbins High School, and a team from Fairmont High School won the “People’s Choice” award.
Sinclair’s Tech Prep program offers multiple pathways for students — agricultural, business, construction, engineering, information technology and more. The four pathways most represented in Friday’s competition were exercise science/sports medicine, media arts, medical bioscience, and visual design/imaging.
Centerville High School senior Miracle Bennett was part of a group that researched “reconnecting the supply chain,” specifically about the impact on grocery stores and local restaurants.
Bennett said she wants to be an entrepreneur and start her own business someday. She said Friday’s showcase helps her build needed skills.
“Presenting helps me learn how to talk to people more,” she said. “I’m already a social person but it helps me to flow and be natural with it.”
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