As part of the PA Governor’s STEM Competition, BLaST IU 17 partnered with Lycoming College to host its sixth annual regional competition on Wednesday, February 5, 2020, for student teams in grades 9-12.

The competition was open to school districts throughout Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, and Tioga counties and tested the skills of three teams this year including Loyalsock Township High School, Towanda Area High School, and Northeast Bradford High School.
This year’s theme was “Improving Pennsylvania Through STEM.” Area teams selected a real-world problem, conducted research, designed, built, and presented a device that was capable of making the quality of life better for citizens of Pennsylvania.

“Lycoming College is proud to partner with Governor Wolf, BLaST IU17, and the promising students and wonderful teachers from our region who participated in this year’s Governor’s STEM Competition,” said Mr. Chip Edmonds, Executive Vice President of Lycoming College. “As an institution providing a premier education in the basic sciences and STEM fields in preparation for careers in technology, engineering, health sciences, and beyond, Lycoming is pleased to share in this competition. Congratulations to all of the teams for their exceptional work and academic success.”

Loyalsock Township High School focused on a health-related issue in Pennsylvania, that of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Their team, led by advisor Mr. Bradley Grey, included: Hibah Khan, Yahya Khan, Sarah Khan, and Kaycie Cowden. Their presentation of the “Inhalation Salvation” demonstrated a handheld device that informs the user of the amount of inhaler medication that he or she is inhaling.

Towanda Area High School presented the Snow buggy, a programmable device that will help with plowing snow in the winter months, especially for the elderly population. Team members included: John Schoonover, Noah Poll, Kaigan Stroop, Hannah Ryck, and Mr. Jon Sayre served as their advisor.

The Northeast Bradford High School team was comprised of Collin Towner, Jazmine Elliott, Jenna Whaley, and Robert Gregory. Their advisor was Mrs. Rebecca Folk. They presented on the issue around school bus safety and proposed a device, “The Speed Jammer”, designed to limit the speed of passing cars within a certain range of the school bus.

Towanda Area High School took first place in the regional competition and will move on to the final state event, the 2020 PA Governor’s STEM Competition, scheduled to be held in May in Harrisburg.

Rebecca Gibboney, Instructional Technology Specialist for BLaST, offered her congratulations to all who participated. “I am impressed by the dedication, perseverance, and knowledge that was evident during the Governor’s STEM Competition.” Rebecca shared. “The teams and their advisors should be very proud of all of their hard work, and the creation of these unique ideas that provide possible solutions to the local problems we face in Pennsylvania. Each of these students have promising futures ahead of them.”

The judging panel included Lauren Balliet from Lycoming College, Kristen Moyer representing SEDA-Council of Governments, Robert Krepshaw from Pennsylvania College of Technology, and Master Sergeant JR Page from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.