Contributed DEMONSTRATING SKILLS — Indian Creek High School sophomore Isaiah Thompson practices drone operations with his drone during Ohio Technology Day 2025.

WINTERSVILLE — Students at Indian Creek High School had the chance to showcase their skills as part of Ohio Tech Day 2025.

Members of the Creek Squad student repair academy joined engineering design pupils and students involved in the newly formed drone class to demonstrate their abilities throughout the district during the statewide celebration on Sept. 26, which highlights the people, companies and ideas that make Ohio technology. Ohio Tech Day is generally held on the final Friday in September and the goal is to raise awareness for the role tech and innovation play in Ohio’s economy and to inspire the next generation of tech leaders.

David Moffat, head of the ICHS CTE Department, said it was the first time the high school participated.

“Ohio Tech Day is a day to promote technology in Ohio and celebrate the next generation of technology and the tech jobs that will lead in Ohio,” Moffat added. “The projection is that Ohio is going to be a tech leader in the country.”

Colleges and universities across the state were involved, while businesses were teaming up for the event and tech giants such as Meta and Google were among the sponsors.

At Indian Creek, programming students displayed their knowledge with demonstrations of drone technology while the Creek Squad visited schools to discuss their role in repairing Chromebooks and related equipment in the buildings, plus Barbara Turner’s engineering classes spotlighted robots. Additionally, the elementary schools incorporated tech talks into various subjects and conducted coding, among other activities.

“We do a lot of this on a daily basis but heightened it within the whole school community,” Moffat said.

The Creek Squad, which is in its second year and includes about 20 students, travels to buildings twice a week to assist faculty, students and administrators with tech needs such as repairs. Another highlight will be an appearance at the Ohio School Boards Association’s annual Capital Conference on Nov. 16-18, where Moffat and several members will attend the Student Achievement Fair and discuss their program at an informational session.

“We have a student leader in every school to manage the help desk that they designed and the teachers have been very receptive, especially in the other buildings. This is very hands-on and student-led and I’m mainly the facilitator,” he said.

Senior Ethan Dyrdek said the program will benefit him in the future.

“It shows me work ethic and how to be more versatile, and it makes me more confident with my skills,” Dyrdek commented. “My main field is medicine and physical therapy and this is my backup plan. I can possibly use it in almost any field I go into.”

Meanwhile, the new drone class has 16 students and three independent pupils who are learning rules and regulations to receive Federal Aviation Administration licenses for drone operation. His students also learn to repair and maintain drones and fly the apparatus using Python coding language. Moffat said they will take the FAA Part 107 exam at the end of the school year to earn their pilot’s licenses, which would enable them to fly drones commercially.

“We are going through rules and regulations about airports, weather, geographic mapping and flight plans to communicating with planes,” he said. “The FAA also has certification, but the exam is a lot more intense since it’s a 60-question exam at a proctored site. It’s a growing field and impacts nearly every job market.”

There also is a new artificial intelligence course to build knowledge in the modern trend and students learn about applications and discuss ethics and responsibilities.

Moffat and Turner regularly collaborate and their classes utilize FANUC robotic arms which mimic those used in industry, while students earn credentials to gain an advantage on the job front. FANUC Robotics has 70 percent of the market share of industrial robots in the U.S. and students can benefit from the program. The robotic arms were funded through an estimated $150,000 Career Technical Education Equipment Grant included in H.B. 33 as part of the state legislature’s 2024-25 biennial budget. About 56 schools statewide received allocations totaling more than $67.7 million for programs such as engineering, manufacturing, health sciences and construction, among others.

Turner said her classes yield about 40 students who learn how to read manufacturing plans, make architectural plans and use computer-aided design and drafting to design objects, plus they design floor plans and make containers, catapults and robots and learn engineering principles. Students have also competed in VEX Robotics competitions and the Chain Reaction Contraption Contest by the Carnegie Science Center to expose them to creative- and critical-thinking concepts.

“The engineering and design class participates in Chain Reaction Contraption, plus they design their own land. The students pitch it and design an attraction and build a scale model,” she explained. “The seniors also have an engineering capstone where they self-define what they see as problems and come up with solutions.”

She added that students exhibit their creations at a container home fair and conduct competitions with their bots. The prospect of designing and creating has impacted at least one student, and he has his eye on studying engineering at a prestigious institution.

“I’m trying to see if I have a shot at MIT,” said freshman Gavin Banks. “(The high school program) is really enjoyable. It’s taught me a lot about coding and interacting with bots. I see how they behave and it allows you to experiment more than programs normally would, plus I use critical thinking to come up with solutions.”