To see the maiden flight of the plane, click on the following YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8rLSRclQGU This is the short version of the maiden flight and was edited so that is is under 2 minutes length so that it can be entered into the video portion of the competition.

Speedfest is an exciting, high-speed aircraft competition which is intended to foster enthusiasm for aviation and unmanned aircraft design, and was created in 2011 with Speedfest I.

Speedfest II introduced two new racing classes: Alpha (Advanced) Class which for the first time was open to all collegiate teams, and India (Invitational) class, which is open to high school teams. A total of 10 teams competed in Speedfest II, including well over 100 students and teachers. Speedfest II also featured demonstrational flights including: aerobatics of helicopters and airplanes, giant scale warbirds, scale jets, a helicopter flying on autopilot, small scale electric warbird combat, and flyovers of several manned aircraft. The official gate count for Speedfest II was over 900 people, which represents a 20% growth from Speedfest I.

India Class teams were challenged with the fabrication of an Uproar airplane kit with a .46 cubic inch, 2-stroke engine. The planes flew head-to-head in heats of up to 3 planes at a time. All India class teams were successful in bringing competitive airplanes to the event, and the spread of scores between 1st place and 6th was only 11%.

Final Standings for India Class:

1. Oklahoma Christian Saints
2. Clinton High School Red Barons
3. Meridian Technology Center Pegasus
4. Yukon High School Millers
5. Great Plains Tech Center Frigates
6. Claremore High School Zebras
7. Francis Tuttle Tech Falcons

To learn more about Speedfest visit:  www.speedfest.okstate.edu.

The Great Plains Frigates received more good news recently. They have been awarded a 2012 AEP Teacher Vision Grant from AEP/PSO. The funds from the grant will be used towards the construction of the next aircraft for Speedfest 2013.

Allen Bellamy, GPTC welding instructor, said his students began building covers for the two handicapped-accessible dugouts at the ballpark in February, but March 27 was the first day they descended on Elmer Thomas Park to begin assembling the structures.

About 12 students were involved in installing the roofs, including juniors, seniors and adults. Work on the second dugout was completed March 28.

Bellamy said the project not only let his students help a worthwhile local charity, but gave them a chance to experience valuable real world work conditions, like wind, sun and deadlines.

Check out the Miracle League website

“We have a really nice shop,” Bellamy said. “But it’s a shop.”

He said the students completed the work ahead of schedule.

“They’ve really stepped up. Nobody thought we’d be this far today, including me,” Bellamy said.

Adult welding student Aaron Alexander said he was enjoying working on the dugouts.

“It’s been good,” he said. “It provides valuable experience in the field.”

Alexander said the project gave him and the other welding students an opportunity to practice skills like welding and properly fitting together a structure and painting.

The Miracle League Ballpark is a facility designed for the use of disabled players.

Enrollment Form - Fill out all information except permission signature then print, sign, and mail to:

Krystal Brue
GPTC/Career Connections
mailto:kbrue@greatplains.edu
4500 W. Lee Blvd.
Lawton, OK 73505

Hannah Cummins           Hastings Gift Certificate

Madison Martinez           I-Tunes Gift Certificate

Printable Career Training Guide

Photo by Jeff Dixon ~ Staff ~ Lawton Constitution

Shelly Tanner has diesel running through her veins.

The Elgin High School junior grew up in a family where large trucks were a big part of life.

Now, she’s the only female student in the Great Plains Technology Center’s diesel mechanics technician program.

“I’ve worked on trucks for a long time,” Tanner said. “It’s just a natural thing. I like working on trucks.”

Her family members work as truck drivers hauling rock for construction projects and working large-scale farm harvests up north. They were always working on large diesel trucks and she was always helping.

“I mainly just cleaned the trucks and helped rebuild the motors,” Tanner said. Eric Alexander, heavy truck service instructor for GPTC, said he’s only had two other women in the program—both of them were full-time adult students. He said Tanner is a good mechanic. He plans to send Tanner to the SkillsUSA competition later this year and expects her to do well.  ~ View full article on Shelly Tanner.

Photo by Jeff Dixon ~ Staff ~ Lawton Constitution

Students in the biomedical science program at the Great Plains Technology Center spent Tuesday figuring out the best way to kill different types of bacteria.

Each student received cultures of Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli and an assortment of antibiotics, instructor Mary Truex said.

The antibiotics  penicillin, gentamycin, ampicillin, chloraphenicol, streptomycin and tetracycline  are each effective against different types of bacteria.

The students had to test their bacteria cultures with each antibiotic to see which antibiotics were effective against each bacteria.

Truex said the experiment is a good introduction to a common job function in the medical field figuring which antibiotics are best to treat a patient’s condition. The biomedical sciences program at GPTC is designed as a pre-college course of study for high school juniors and seniors who want to work in the medical field. Truex said graduates of the program have gone on to work in nursing, attend medical and dental school and become physical therapists. There are about 68 student currently enrolled in the academically rigorous biomedical sciences program.

Photo by Jeff Dixon ~ Staff ~ Lawton Constitution

The firefighter training program at the Great Plains Technology Center will be going adults-only in August.

The program, which started in 2000 primarily for high school juniors and seniors who wanted to become firefighters, will be open only to those 18 and older, with a high school diploma or GED, beginning with the fall 2012 semester, said Nancy Howell, GPTC emergency medical technician/fire training instructor.

The program currently is 10 months long and students meet for half a day. The students are trained up to the level of proficiency required for the Firefighter Level I certification test and the basic EMT test.

The revamped program will be an all-day program lasting only one semester.

Students will be trained to the level of proficiency required to take the Firefighter Level II certification test, which is the minimum level of certification required for employment by the Lawton Fire Department. The decision to change the program was made by the school’s advisory committee, which is made up of professional firefighters and EMTs, Howell said. The reasons for the changes are increasingly tough requirements for certification and tighter competition for firefighter jobs. Both the Firefighter Level I and Basic EMT certifications now require students to have more hours of training than was previously required, Howell said. When the current program for high school students was started, it was only the third such program in the nat6ion. The other two programs for high school students were located in Los Angeles and Cincinnati.

February 2, April 5, 9 AM – 12 Noon, Room 656 Bldg 600
Designed for new business or individuals thinking about setting up business in Oklahoma.  Workshop offers information on formation, business structures, and steps for formation types such as incorporation steps, a step-by-step guide to business registration, bookkeeping techniques and a line-by-line explanation of the primary business tax forms. Free to attend.

Great Plains Chapter–SHRM

February 8, March 14, April 11, Lunch 11:30, Program at 12 Noon, Room 655
Chapter members and guests welcome.  Programs based on issues important to Human Resource professionals, business owners and managers.

Home Based Business Networking

February 13, April 9, 12 Noon – 1:30 PM, Room 655, Building 600
Free.  Programs of interest to the self-employed working from home.

Special Events:

Franchising 101

January 27, 9–11AM, Room 655-656 – No Charge
An introduction to operating a franchise, with Mike Ingram, from Frannet of Dallas/Fort Worth.

Small Business Showcase

March 13, 4–7 PM Worley Seminar Center, Building 300
Fifty vendor booths displaying goods and services of Lawton area small business. Door prizes from each vendor plus a grand prize. Free to the public.

Intellectual Property Workshop–Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights

April 4, 9–11AM, Room 655-656.
Presented by Anthony L. Rahhal, from the Oklahoma City law firm McAfee & Taft.