Congratulations to Yorktown High School’s Aeronautics Club, which is already competing on a national stage despite forming less than a year ago!
Club members recently returned from a late-July trip to AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where they showcased their skills against other teenage drone enthusiasts.
The Corntographers – as the Yorktown High School team is known – was one of six teams in the country to qualify for the Beginner Division of the prestigious UAS4STEM competition. The Yorktown students were selected for the national level after advancing through a virtual preliminary round in the spring.
The club was founded by rising junior Sharik Bose. Delighted by the opportunity to learn new skills and connect with fellow aviation enthusiasts, Sharik spoke of his team's excitement, saying:
“In a span of just a few months since I founded the club, to be placed as a Top 6 team in the nation is an incredible honor for us. At Oshkosh, we had to program our drone to complete given tasks such as waypoint missions, rotations in a set direction, and even finding lost hiker models! We programmed and controlled the drone from a ground station on a laptop, which is a unique component of this event.”
The YHS Aeronautics Club not only showcased their technical expertise but also exemplified teamwork, communication, collaboration, and time management — crucial skills for success in the field of aeronautics.
The club's ambitions extend beyond the competition circuit. In the upcoming school year, the Corntographers hope to live up to their team name, which is a play on the word cartography, the science of mapmaking.
“Our goal is to be able to take pictures and video footage of sports games and campus-wide events at Yorktown High School,” Sharik said.
The club also has community-oriented goals, such as partnering with local emergency responders on search and rescue efforts and providing workshops for younger students.