Out of nine possible awards given out, four were honored to Texans Can Academies students in the Drones and Robotics Competition at the 2018 Service, Employment, Redevelopment (SER) National Annual Conference at Crowne Plaza in Addison, Texas on May 15-16, 2018. Nicholas Gothard received first place in the Drones Competition, and Zaria Turrubiates placed in third place. Jose Gonzalez won third in the Robotics Competition, and Ashley Guzman placed second in the Most Creative Robot category. A total of 322 students from different schools in Dallas participated in the Drone and Robotics Competition.

The SER National Conference conference acts in conjunction with the SER Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) High School Program, which is a three-day program for STEM career awareness, drone and robotics competition and a Community Day for Hispanic high school students. The program is targeted to stimulate interest in STEM for students that have not tried hands-on Science and Engineering activities. The goal of the program is to introduce students, beginners through expert, to the exciting world of Drones and Robotics through building, designing, modifying robots, and testing drones and robots.

Jose M. Hernandez, an American engineer and former NASA astronaut, was the keynote speaker at this year’s conference. Hernandez was assigned to the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-128, and also served as Chief of the Materials and Processes Branch of the Johnson Space Center. 

Texans Can Academies is dedicated to transforming students, graduating thinkers that positively impact our community, and changing their mentality from surviving to thriving.