Jaguars continue to excel in competitions throughout the region. On January 22nd Miami Lakes Educational Center‘s SECME team took home three wins at the local SECME competition at Miami-Dade College’s North Campus.

SECME, which stands for science, engineering, communication, and mathematics enhancement, brings national and local competitions to students across the country in the areas of math, science, and engineering.
 
“Being in SECME has been a life changing adventure simply because I never really liked math or science but when I joined, I learned that they can be especially fun in competition, which I recommend everyone to join. Because of it, I want to pursue a career in STEM,” said Hiranya Mir, a senior at Miami Lakes Educational Center, as well as the president of the school’s SECME club.

The competition was open to elementary, middle, and high schools. Schools as far from Coral Gables Senior High School, to local Miami Lakes Educational Center gathered to compete in several categories including bridge, mousetrap cars, VEX robotics, egg drop, robotic hand, Brain Bowl, Math Bowl, bottle rockets, and the banner competitions.

After months of preparations beginning in September of last year, Miami Lakes Educational Center’s SECME team won three awards in different categories.

The team won 1st place in the Robotic hand competition, in which a team of students had to modify and improve a robotic hand prototype for efficient use by those who have lost a hand, such as army veterans. Shouts of excitement filled the auditorium from the MLEC team after the announcement of their first place win. Hiranya Mir (12th grade), Avery Cohen (10th grade), Tatiana Morales (10th grade), Martin Escalante (10th grade), and Giancarlo Tejada (9th grade) were the five team members accepting the award.

“It feels fantastic, all our hard work throughout the year has paid off and we won. This win means that I was a part of a great team that got this exceptional honor and now I can only hope we can continue to win in the upcoming years”, said Tatiana Morales, a sophomore at Miami Lakes Educational who is a member of the winning robotic hand team.

The celebration did not stop there, when MLEC’s SECME team also won 1st place in the mousetrap car categories. Alfredo Gonzalez (11th grade), Erica Riano (11th grade), Carlos Garcia (9th grade), and Diego Garcia (9th grade) were the three members of the winning team whom outscored the other high schools based on the speed and distance of their mousetrap cars.

“It felt really great to have won 1st place in my first year joining SECME and I’m really proud of my other team members”, said Alfredo Gonzalez, a junior at Miami Lakes Educational Center, who is a member of the winning mousetrap care team.

Miami Lakes’ local SECME team also went on to win 3rd place in the VEX robots category. The team faced impromptu complication with their robot, but was able to take make modifications in time to successfully compete. Alejandro Aguilar (11th grade), George Ellas De Leon (12th grade), and Alejandro Valle accepted the award.

“I really wasn’t sure what to expect. We were confident we could pull it off, but then problems started. Motors would not work, cables weren’t long enough, and everything seemed to break down, but we put our minds together and solved each problem one by one. It just shows how important it is to have determination, courage, and even a little bit of faith when going into these competitions,” said Alejandro Aguilar, a junior at Miami Lakes Educational who was on the winning VEX robot team.

The SECME team now has the chance to compete in the national competitions against schools from several states across the country to hopefully take home yet another win for the school.
 
“The wins make me extremely proud and excited. I feel this huge weight lifted from my shoulders after 5 months of working straight and I just feel so ecstatic, that we won two firsts and third places. I couldn’t have asked for a better team,” said Ms. Mir.