LFHS Sea Perch Team Places Second in Regional

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

Los Fresnos High School placed second at the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge held Oct. 6, at the Harlingen CISD Aquatic Center, as part of HESTEC Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

For the competition, students assemble their Remotely Operated Vehicle, or ROV, compete in overcoming underwater obstacles and go through an interview process.

SeaPerch gives students the chance to learn about robotics and the STEM fields, while building an underwater ROV and applying engineering concepts, problem-solving skills and technical applications.

LFHS placed second out of 35 schools that included charter and magnet schools. Harlingen High placed first and Science Academy of South Texas in Mercedes placed third.

“The best part was listening to the students on they way back to school making plans for improvements on this and other engineering projects they have placed on hold because of this competition,” said Javier Martinez Garza, sponsor of the LFHS Engineering Club. “The students talked about the electric car project, prosthetics design, and collaboration with TSTC’s engineering group. They all want to go into engineering and this event just confirmed that. This was their Friday Night Lights.”

LFHS practiced at the new Aquatic Center.

“The students met Monday through Friday at 7:40 a.m. to work on the ROV,” Martinez Garza said. “Student leadership happened naturally and tasks and deadlines were assigned. Veteran team members helped new team members to learn the basics: soldering of circuit board for the controller, use of tools, waterproofing the motors, and how to build the ROV structure in a robust way.”