Ozone Park school excels in competition

Angel Texidor, a teacher at the High School for Construction, Trades, Engineering and Architecture (CTEA), wanted his students to compete against others in the region.
“To be honest, I didn’t go in with high expectations. I wanted them to go for the experience and to build on that for the future,” he said of the “International Construction Challenge.”
However, his budding engineers, architects, construction workers and designers — in the ninth and tenth grades — surprised him, scoring two spots at the finals in Las Vegas after a qualifying round in Glassboro, N.J. More than 140 student teams from five regional qualifying rounds were whittled down to 60 headed for Nevada.
From March 10 to 14, 14 students from Ozone Park high school will face off against their counterparts from around the country.
“They are awesome. To have nine freshman and five sophomores go into this competition and do well, I’m really impressed,” CTEA Principal Quintin Cedeno said of the two teams.
This year is the first that the CTEA, which opened in 2006, has entered the competition.
“When I first told [my parents of the win], they thought I was lying … so they came up to the school and asked Mr. Texidor if I am really going to Vegas,” joked 14-year-old Jose Dominguez.
And the students’ success has sparked interest from their classmates, who want to get involved next year, Cedeno said, adding that 10 CTEA students who did not advance from the qualifying round were plotting their strategy for next year on the bus ride home from Glassboro.
In Vegas, the students will have to compete in a trivia round and several obstacle courses, including one that requires them to fix structure problems on a roadway and then drive a remote control car over the repaired area to ensure that they are structurally sound.
They will be asked about infrastructures, drinking water systems, sewers, flooding, drainage, highways, bridges, and roadways and the students are guessing that the recent problems with drinking water in New Jersey schools could be a question posed to them because of the proximity to New York.
The team that wins first prize gets a $2,000 scholarship and computer, a $1,000 scholarship and iPod Touch goes to the second-place winners and a $500 scholarship and portable DVD player are handed out for third. However, teams that score the highest in each of three rounds also are awarded prizes.
Competition is expected to be fierce, the students said, and they will also have to contend with one another - the 14 students comprise two teams, Beastin, which is made of entirely of freshmen, and USI, which has two freshmen and five sophomore students.
Although the students predicted that one or both of the teams would come out on top, most seemed excited simply at the chance to travel.
“We still are getting the biggest prize in the world - Las Vegas,” said Jean Pierre Camacho, a freshman who hopes to one day rebuild the engine in his first car - ideally a BMW 575.
For many of the kids, the building trades that they are studying are already familiar.
“My family has been in construction and engineering and architecture their whole lives,” said freshman Nick Lopiccolo.
Freshman and Howard Beach resident James Signorino said that two of his uncles are construction workers.
“This was my number one school priority. I just wanted to follow in their footsteps,” Signorino said, before explaining that he is the “designated driver” for his team.
“As for the Roadwarrior [a challenge worth 400 points in the finals], I’m going to destroy it,” Signorino said.
As the only girl on the trip, freshman Nicole Turner has drawn envy from the other kids.
“She’s lucky. She gets her own room,” joked her teammates.
However, the kids do not expect to spend much time cooped up - along with the competition and dinners with their teams’ sponsors - Stone Construction Equipment, Inc. and Caterpillar, Inc. - and awards dinners, they hope to see some of the sights appropriate for their age group.
Texidor would at least like them to take a walk along the Strip together to take in the view.
“We are really focused on the competition at hand, but it would be silly to go to Las Vegas and not see anything,” he said, adding, “If we can handle it as a family, because that’s what we have become, then we will go together.”