Drones Fly High At Jenks High School

Drones flying high at Jenks High School this weekend.  Hundreds of middle and high schoolers took part in Flight Night's Quadcopter Challenge.

Oklahoma has a rich aviation industry, and the students were getting a head start on the future job market.

Sixth-grader Roxy Davis is cheering on her team's quadcopter. She and her Owasso classmates built the drones themselves. 

"We learned a lot about robotics, and we also learn the language of the quadcopters," said Roxy Davis, Owasso 6th grader.

Their goal? To get them through a difficult obstacle course as quickly as possible. Students from all over Green Country took part. 

Teachers know quadcopters are the way of the future, so the competition is one way for future careers to lift off.

"This is what's coming; we need to get our kids ready to take that place," said Xan Black, Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance Director.

STEM Alliance director Xan Black explains it is all made possible with grants from the non-profit group Flight Night.  She says they realized early on: drones are the way of the future. 
The kids know it, too. 

"Like the military, they're going all drones, basically," said Central High School junior Brandon Harvey. He said the experience was fun and good competition.

"NASA is trying to find technology for drones to deliver on our route to other places," said sixth-grader Roxy Davis.

So even when things don't work out how they'd like, it's all part of the lesson.

About 300 students competed in the challenge. Owasso Middle School and Memorial High School took first place.