MANILA, Oct. 17, 2011—The Philippine Science High School – Cordillera Autonomous Region Campus (PSHS-CAR) bested 13 other schools in the country at the recently concluded National Water-Boosted Rocket Competition held in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, the Department of Science and Technology announced last week through a press release.
The Pisay team, as students from Philippine Science High School-CAR are also called, is composed of Louie Sandro, John Jester Zeus Castro, and Lorenzo Miguel Gonzales.
The students, who received a P10,000 cash prize and a certificate for their invention, will be off to Singapore in December to represent the Philippines in the Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) Water-Boosted Rocket Competition.
The CSI Group of Companies CEO and Dagupan City Vice-Mayor Belen T. Fernandez also gave US$100 to each of the students as their pocket money.
Among the 14 schools that competed in the contest, only PSHS-CAR made it almost to the mark at a distance of only 1.45 meters from the target. The other schools failed to even reach the target.
Director Dr. Filma G. Brawner of the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI), congratulated the winning students.
“We congratulate the team from PSHS-CAR for their successful campaign in the National Water-Boosted Rocket Competition and we hope that they can duplicate their feat when they go to Singapore,” Brawner said in a press release.
Brawner also said that competitions are important in the creation of a culture of science and technology in the Philippines as it helps the students to reach beyond their comfort zones and excel in what they do.
Meanwhile, three elementary students also from Dagupan City, will have their artworks as the official entries of the country to the APRSAF Poster Making Contest after winning in the National On-the-Spot Poster Making Contest.
Elijah Duran of Pascuala G. Villamil Elementary School, Jeoffrey Cruz of Bolosan Elementary School and Vladimir Andrea Lugo of Wonderland School ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the said competition and received certificates with take home cash of P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000 respectively.
The two competitions were held in celebration of the 2011 World Space Week in the said city in partnership with the CSI Group of Companies. This year’s theme was “50 Years of Human Space flight,” commemorating Russian Yuri Gagarin’s flight into outer space in 1961.
Brawner added that “One of the objectives of the conduct of the World Space Week is to bring to the consciousness of the Filipino people, especially the youth, the importance of space technology in their daily lives.”
“As we explore the Philippines and beyond, space science plays a major role in making us understand the things we see and the things we do not see. Space science helps us prepare before the onset of any major calamity and prevent any major damage it may bring to the country. We also learn to appreciate more our surroundings as we look beyond our world and see how blessed human beings are,” she further said. (Jandel Posion)
