(EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT – May 21 2024) — The drone team at the Center for Career and Technology Education (CCTE) has a lot of achievements to celebrate this semester.
Franklin High School Senior, Annelise Bingham, and Andress High School Junior, Gabriel Spencer, competed in the 2024 Unique to Texas Drone Race tournament in Fort Worth, Texas in late April and won first place. The event was organized by the Texas Technology Student Association (TSA) who hosts the event annually.
As part of the contest, the students were tasked with building their own drone which they had to use to fly through a difficult course.
David Alvarado is the Drone Technology Instructor at CCTE, and he helped train his students for the big competition for weeks. “I’m really proud of my students,” Alvarado said. “Annelise and Gabriel were the only competitors out of 25 teams from across the state to complete the course and score all points, so it’s really great to see all the hard work paying off in the end.”
Gabriel said he plans to continue studying aerospace technology into his senior year, while Annelise plans to double major in aerospace and mechanical engineering at New Mexico State University in the fall. Annelise was also one of three recipients to win the Far West Texas TSA High School Scholarship.