DoDEA

June 28, 2010 — Two teams of students from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) came in second place in their grade and region in this year’s annual eCYBERMISSION competition.
The eCYBERMISSION competition is a free, web-based science, technology, engineering and math competition for students in grades six through nine. Sponsored by the U.S. Army, eCYBERMISSION, allows students to compete in regional and national forums while working to solve problems in their community. Each student from the two DoDEA second place teams will receive $3,000 in U.S. EE Savings Bonds and a certificate.
DoDEA’s winning teams are:
Rainbow Elementary School, Ainsbach, Germany
6th grade- Southeast Region
Team: Oreo Team
Team Advisor: Olga Strader
Team Members: Andres Mayorga, Jesmarie Fernandez, Alaina Staniewicz, Christian DelaCruz
Vilseck High School, Vilseck, Germany
9th grade- Southeast Region
Team: We R The Champions
Team Advisor: Lawrence Chanin
Team Members: Christy Chanin, Malia Carson, Quinton Edwards
The Oreo team, from Rainbow Elementary School, was recognized by judges for improving awareness of pet care in their military community. The team hosted a pet food drive, created fliers, brochures, posters, and a video, and donated to their local animal shelter in order to increase awareness.
The students observed a change in awareness among people to whom they presented their information. The team plans to continue encouraging their community to be aware of the importance of taking care of pets.
The team We R the Champions, from Vilseck High School, was recognized by the judges for attempting to create a safe way for drivers and pedestrians to listen to music without using ear-covering devices, which distract the user from hearing and processing their surroundings.
The team hopes to take their findings to the leadership on their Army base, which recently ruled that that no pedestrians can wear headphones or other similar devices, and convince them to overturn the rule for those individuals who would wear the Bone Oscillator.
To compete in the eCYBERMISSION competition teams must select one of the four Mission Challenges, identify a problem in their community, formulate their hypothesis, and conduct research and experiments in order to come up with a solution. Teams use what they have learned in the classroom in science, math, writing and computer skills to develop their projects.
The top 16 first-place regional winners advance to the National competition and attend the National Judging and Educational event this month. Teams that proceed to the National level compete for an additional $5,000 in U.S. EE Savings Bonds and the national title in each grade. Teams can only compete within their own grade levels for regional and national awards.
Since the program was launched in 2002 eCYBERMISSION has awarded $6.7 million in U.S. EE Savings Bonds. To date, more than 71,000 students from across the country and in U.S. territories and DoDEA schools worldwide have participated in the competition. This year, 13,218 students registered for eCYBERMISSION and formed more than 3,300 teams.
DoDEA plans, directs, coordinates, and manages pre-kindergarten through 12th grade education programs for Department of Defense (DoD) dependents who would otherwise not have access to a high-quality, public education. DoDEA schools are located in Europe, the Pacific, the United States, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. DoDEA also provides support and resources to Local Education Activities throughout the U.S. that serve children of military families.