The second of three events at the Tom Bean Middle School was presented before the Thanksgiving holidays to the 7th graders in which the "Egg Drop" activity was a hit for all the students.  

Raytheon employees Sherry E. Howard (also Tom Bean Mayor), Sandra Mejia and Brenda Hale joined forces to deliver some inspirational words to the students concerning the importance of Math and Science in their school curriculum and how this can impact their future in the workforce.  

The Egg Drop poster used in advertising for the event was created by Kristen Ulmer, another member of the team.

The Egg Drop contest consisted of a kit of materials that the students could use to build a cradle to support an egg and survive an 8' drop from a ladder.  Each item in the kit had a price attached and the team of students (5 per team) had to design a cradle, keep track of the cost of the cradle and their design had to be completed in 20 minutes.  

Thus, designing a cradle at a lower cost was very important in the decision making of the winners.  Of the 12 teams, around 50% of the teams design survived the 8' drop and the final scores were tallied to determine the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.  The winning teams received trophies which will be displayed at the school along with some special giveaways.  All of the other students also received giveaways at the end of the event.  

One comment from one of the students was, "This was fun.  We never did anything like this in Oklahoma."

The Raytheon group thanked Principal Dewitt Smith, Ms. Christy Rhodes and Superintendent Kathy Garrison for allowing them to come into the school and present this Raytheon supported program to the students.