Future Marian Engineers Take the Challenge

Grace Rudersdorf

 

Itıs crunch time for twelve of our dedicated S.A.M.E. (Society of American Military Engineers) members as they frantically put an end to their project.  After nearly a year of hard work, these girls are finally ready for the competition they have all been anxiously awaiting.

 

On Tuesday, April 20 at 8:30 AM, representatives from schools from all over the metro area gathered at the Peter Kiewit Center at UNO for the 2004 S.A.M.E competition.  The following schools competed against Marian: Omaha North, Prep, Gross, Mt. Michael, Millard West, Thomas Jefferson, Bennington, Bellevue West, Duchesne, Elmwood-Murdock, Atlantic, and Woodrow Wilson.

 

Each school presents their project in front of a panel of judges. This yearıs team presented a model for a conservatory for the Omaha Botanical Gardens. Once the school year started, the team began meeting and researching other conservatories. Such as the Botanical Center in Des Moines, Iowa and at Iowa State Universityıs Reiman Gardens. After researching these, the team went to work on what the project would entail.

 

Each member was assigned a topic to research and report back to the rest of the team. Then the action begins and the team gets to work on the designs of the conservatory. The team prepared for the competition and anxiously awaited the results at the award ceremony. Marian took home the Technology Award but also with rewarding experience that they will benefit them greatly. 

 

This year Marian had the following participants: freshmen Margie Kenndy and Julia Smith; juniors Laura Brannen, Chrissy Galata, Megan Koory, Katie McGill, Stacy and Rachel Stieren, Marcy Watson, Heather Wolf; and seniors Christina Gonzalez, Katie Mehal, Brigitte Moland, Becki Prendergast.

           

With the help of Mrs. Smith, Mr. Kathman, and researcher and mentor, Ms. Anne Peterson, the team trained and planned for their project in early June of 2003.  Each individual got introduced to the CAD (Computer Aid Drafted) program so they would be ready when time came to create their design model.  

 

S.A.M.E. is a huge time commitment that takes a lot of hard word and dedication, but Junior Laura Brannen loved every minute of it. ³ S.A.M.E. is probably the greatest experience I have had at Marian. It was fun, I learned a lot, and I got to know the whole team personally. Mrs. Smith and Mr. Kathman made the experience really worthwhile and fun. It would not be the same without them.²

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