A Thomas County Central High School freshman has earned a 2018-2019 Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision Honorable Mention. The project was among the top 10 percent of all those submitted for this year’s competition.

Toshiba and the NSTA announced recognitions Tuesday, March 7. Cason Dennard, 14, earned the award for his work toward creating a sensor to detect objects in the water.

“My project is a sensor that detects objects in the water; although, if the watercraft gets too close, then the sensor will shut it down,” Dennard said. “I came up with this project after I heard about a boat running into kids on a lake and later killing them. I thought about something I could do to increase safety on the water and came up with this.”

This national competition, open to K-12 students, challenges youth to solve a real-world problem using STEM practices and scientific research to create future technology. 

“Cason's project was something that had a direct interest to him,” TCCHS science teacher Meagan Bradshaw said. “He was able to draw from his personal experiences to see a problem and design a potential solution to it. He was competing against students from all over the nation. It is an honor to be selected given how many projects are submitted. I am proud of his hard work.”

A full list of honorable mention recipients is posted at www.exploravision.org. Awards and certificates will ship to honorees.

“I feel super excited because I have never won anything this big,” Dennard said. “It feels like all that work I did paid off.”

Bradshaw encourages others to consider taking part in ExploraVision.

“It is beneficial because it incorporates many aspects of the scientific process and creativity,” she said. “Participants and teams are designing and creating a description of the product with the idea what it will be like in 20 years.”

Dennard urges students with an interest in science to foster it.

“To those who are interested in science, continue,” he said. “Science is a major factor in most jobs later on, and it is very interesting.”