Photo By Libby Hite | DURHAM, New Hampshire (April 11, 2025): Students from Maine and New Hampshire schools...... read more read more
On April 11, 2025, middle and high school students from across Maine and New Hampshire participated in the 2025 Seacoast SeaPerch Regional Competition at University of New Hampshire (UNH). SeaPerch is one of the many programs offered by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Outreach.
The SeaPerch competition is an annual event that was held at the Swasey Pool of the UNH campus in Durham, New Hampshire. The event included different challenges for the SeaPerch teams to complete. Each team consisted of two to six students, and the competition involved an underwater obstacle and mission course with their handmade Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs).
As part of the Seacoast SeaPerch alliance, PNSY STEM Outreach Program partners with the UNH and UNH Extension to execute SeaPerch across New Hampshire and Southern Maine. UNH Extension Field Specialist Claes Thelemark, who specializes in educating STEM educators, is a big part of this program. “I essentially train-the-trainers, teaching STEM volunteers and teachers in these STEM and 4H programs,” said Thelemark. “It’s all about getting kids involved in science and the community. Programs like SeaPerch get kids interested in science and creates future engineers.”
The obstacle course portion of the competition tested high-speed maneuverability and required the student-built ROVs to navigate the course as quickly as possible. “This is the timed component of the competition,” said Thelemark. “They have three minutes to complete the course.”
The mission course incorporated a complex underwater task, simulated as a deep-sea exploration, that teams must complete with their ROV. The recovery mission is designed to test the team’s ability to move and manipulate objects.
The goals of these competitions are to provide opportunities for students to experience real-world engineering challenges and to develop the skills needed to solve those challenges. “It allows kids to see how science is applicable in real-life instead of just in a textbook,” said educator, Sarah Rice who once taught science in public schools and now runs a homeschool program. Rice appreciates that PNSY’s STEM Outreach Program has this strong partnership with the schools and community, as it exposes students to new opportunities like this event. “I could have taught my kids about these things in the classroom, but this partnership has provided a real-world education,” said Rice. “In fact, a student who graduated last year, and who participated in SeaPerch, is going to be working as a tugboat operator at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.”
The objective of programs like SeaPerch and the STEM Outreach Program, is to produce the people who will push the envelope in the future. “This program allows kids to explore different avenues in science and engineering to see what they want to do when they finish school. STEM is all about workforce readiness,” said STEM Coordinator Tiffany Towning.
Most importantly, this event is only possible due to the efforts of volunteers. Volunteers for SeaPerch support as pool judges, timers, divers, and triage support. Plastic Fabricator Freddy Agnello has been volunteering with the STEM Outreach Program for more than two years. He enjoys seeing kids getting to work outside of what they normally do, like handling tools and working on a project as a team. “I like volunteering for SeaPerch because you get to work with the kids on a project from start to finish,” said Agnello. “It’s really rewarding.”
Likewise, the students are equally excited about this opportunity. Sixth and seventh graders, Theo and Dylan, from Marlborough Middle School, have been in the program for two years. Dylan liked learning how to use a soldering iron and Theo enjoyed learning wiring. They both liked using science, problem solving in order to fix their build, and learning how to do something they’ve never done before. Seventh grader, Layla said that STEM is her favorite club at school and that she does it because it’s fun. “I learned a lot about building, soldering, cutting PVC [pipe] and putting it together using different tools I’ve never used before,” said Layla. “It’s a lot of fun!”
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2025 14:48 |
| Story ID: | 496306 |
| Location: | KITTERY, MAINE, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, STEM Dives Deep At The Annual Seacoast SeaPerch Regional Competition, by Alana Demo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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