NCHS Drafting Students Place High in State

By: Julie Laakko-Swanson

news@nashnews.net

Two students in Nashville Community High School’s Drafting class recently brought some hardware home to NCHS. Junior Ryan Stiegman won second and a medal at the Virtual State Drafting Competition and Sophomore Emma Eberhart brought home a first place medal and plaque to hang in the classroom of Drafting teacher and Drafting Team Sponsor Doug Kell. This is a pretty big deal since there has only been one 1st place and one 3rd place winner from NCHS since 2009.

“It’s more than awesome,” said NCHS Principal Mark Begando as Kell presented Emma and Ryan with their medals. “These are some incredibly smart kids, here.”

Emma and Ryan, along with six other students, participated in the Virtual State Drafting Competition this year. These six students were among eight NCHS students who participated in the Virtual Regional Competition, where those who placed 1st or 2nd were able to participate in the State Competition.

“Everyone who participated are wonderful students,” said Kell, “and these two – based on their performance – are some of the best.”

There are 11 different categories that students can participate in at State, and Emma and Ryan both participated in the Architectural Board category. This is where students use pencils and physical board to draw out architectural designs, rather than computers. For the State competition, Emma and Ryan were required to draw the front view of a cabin and a floor plan. Both are excited about their wins.

“It’s really cool, but I was surprised,” Ryan said, claiming she did not feel she did as good a job as she did. In the end, she said she was happy with the design – and clearly, so were the judges.

Emma said that the competition, and winning first, was, “Really a cool experience to be a part of, and now there is a plaque in his classroom with my name on it. That’s cool to have that.”

Emma wants to go into architectural engineering someday, and Ryan said she just took the Drafting class for fun. Last year, both girls participated in the in-person Regionals Competition at KC, but neither advanced. They took on the Intro Board category last year, and said that this year’s Architectural Board was more specific.

“Apparently we’re a lot better at that.” said Emma.

Both Emma and Ryan hope to compete again next year – both in the Architectural Board category again.