Francis Tuttle Technology Center hosts 14th Annual Engineering Challenge

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Francis Tuttle Technology Center held its 14th Annual Engineering Challenge for Oklahoma City metro 6th-9th grade students Friday.

To get students excited about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), Francis Tuttle invites the students to show off their skills in a series of competitions - including bottle rockets, ping-pong ball launchers and mouse-trap vehicles.

"I'm hoping that through this experience I can introduce them to engineering and get them to come to Francis Tuttle, because it's a great career path and as many people as I can get interested in it," said Edmond Memorial and Francis Tuttle student, Drew McNair. "That's my goal. I want to get everyone in it."

The Engineering Challenge encourages them to pursue education in STEM fields.

"My family's never really gone to college. They're all kind of self-employed. Chose they're own path," said Putnam City and Francis Tuttle student, Vander Ainsworth. "I wanted to do something different. I wanted to follow engineering and go into the civil engineering career path."

Last year, more than 300 students from 15 metro schools signed up for the challenge.