THE ST. JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL JETS TEAM WINS FIRST PLACE IN THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

The members of the JETS Team in action during the test on March 8, 2003

Frederiksted, April 24, 2003. The headquarters of the Junior Engineering Technical Society in Alexandria, VA recently announced that the St. Joseph High School JETS Team won first place in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the annual JETS TEAMS competition.

Members of the St. Joseph High School JETS Team spent 3 hours on Saturday morning, March 8, 2003, taking the JETS TEAMS (Junior Engineering Technical Society - Test of Engineering Aptitude, Math, and Science). The eight students on the team include 5 seniors, 1 junior and 2 freshmen. The team coach is Br. James Petrait, a national Presidential Award Winner for Excellence in Secondary Science Education and a teacher at St. Joseph High School. The sponsor of the team is Mr. Gustav James, P.E. , President of the Systems Engineering and Construction, Inc. of Frederiksted.

The members of the St. Joseph High School JETS TEAMS started pursuing this activity early in the year. The main event in this competition was the taking of the voluntary test by the entire team on a Saturday morning which is normally a day off from school. This test consists of problems in the fields of science and engineering that are encountered by those actually in the field. Just as engineers and scientists work in groups to solve their problems, so do the competing teams across the nation. To prepare for the actual event, the St. Joseph High School team spent many hours working on practice problems in the weeks previous to taking the test.

The JETS organization has its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia and its JETS TEAMS Competition and other programs have been recognized, commended or endorsed by many societies and organizations including the National Science Foundation, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Teachers Association, and National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Besides denoting "teams", "TEAMS" also stands for Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science.

The members of the JETS Team in action during the test on March 8, 2003

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