The sky is the limit: drone clubs take flight at Haywood County Schools

Brionna Dallara, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·2 min read

May 15—An inaugural drone competition for Haywood County Schools was held in April, where two-person teams from every elementary and middle schools in the county demonstrated their "fly" skills by piloting and navigating drones through different obstacles and challenges.

"The event was a huge success. A follow-up survey of students, parents and sponsors revealed very positive feedback and a desire to keep the programs running," said Charly Inman, administrator of the drones and robotics club during this week's town board meeting, where teams were recognized.

The competition and drone clubs were made possible through a federal grant dedicated to after-school math enrichment. Using funds from this grant, Haywood schools were able to purchase drones from Drone Legends, a curriculum company that aims to creatively incorporate the technology into school studies.

Since then, students of each elementary and middle school in the district have formed teams and have plunged into the world of drone applications, coding and piloting techniques during after-school meets.

The competition was held at Tuscola High School where the students put their new drone piloting skills through the paces of the competition course.

At last week's school board meeting, the following teams of each elementary and middle school were recognized.

"We would like to recognize our two-man winning teams from each school, which means they had the fastest time flying the drone down and back through an obstacle course," Inman said. "While this may have looked easy, trust me, it is not easy, so these students have done an excellent job learning how to fly drones."

—Bethel Elementary: Time 1 min., 40.11 sec. Coach Darby Warren and students Jack Miller and Tucker McKinstry.

—Meadowbrook Elementary: Time 1 min., 47.47 sec. Coach Isaac Medford and William Day; Team of Jackson Mathis and Eli Frizzel.

—North Canton Elementary: Time 1 min., 54.4 sec. Coach Niki Paganelli and students Cormac Allen and lan Hatherlee.

—Riverbend Elementary: Time 2 min., 12.75 sec.; Coach Nikki Barker and students Bentley Styles and Jacob Lanning.

—Junaluska Elementary: Time 2 min., 16.44 sec. Coach Samuel Moore and Ira Hyde and students Lake Simmons and Lyndon Thach.

—Jonathan Valley Elementary: Time 2 min., 24.44 sec. Coach Mikaela Reardon and students Aiden Palmer and Justin Langley.

—Hazelwood Elementary: Time 2 min., 28.28 sec. Coach Karissa Ingle and students Hayes Stephens and Nicholas Johnston.

—Clyde Elementary: Time 3 min., 1.01 sec. Coach Kevin Drury and students Jason Cooke and Jasper Sawdy.

—Waynesville Middle: Time 1 min., 26.40 sec. Coach Noal Castater; and students Kasen Francis and Jonas Berry.

—Canton Middle: Time 1 min., 27.41 sec. Coach Jeff Battle; and students Annabelle Poppy and Kylie Poppy.

—Bethel Middle: Time 1 min. 51.53 sec. Coach Karma Shuford and students Garrett Sharpe and Dalton Price.