Middle school and high school teams from Ohio and Pennsylvania converged in Columbus on February 15th to participate in the Ohio Educational Technology Conference Race. Educators attending the event were able to experience the excitement of drone racing while also getting the opportunity to ask questions of the students and advisers currently participating in the Drones in School program. One of the first races for Drones in School was held at this conference in 2019. "It's Great to have so many excellent teams participating at this year's conference." Tad Douce, Executive Director for Drones in School, shared, "The Ohio educational technology conference (OETC) is an excellent place to showcase our program. Most educators attending this conference are technology early adopters, so designing and flying drones is attractive to many of them."

 2023 is the first year back to a live conference for OETC since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ohio department of education organized the conference and was grateful to have students and teachers willing to participate in the show. Drones in School also had great volunteer judges for the event. Claire Cannizzaro, Paul Adkins, and Spencer Cannizzaro from MultiGP provided race operations guidance and timing equipment to help the head-to-head race run smoothly. Claire also participated in team display and portfolio evaluation with Ohio Technology and Engineering Educator Association (OTEEA) representatives Paul Post and Dick Dieffenderfer. Tim Stanfield, President and founder of ReadyMade RC, also helped with race set up, judging, and clean up for the event.

The Drones in School team would like to thank everyone who assisted with event operations/judging, the OETC conference team for hosting, and all our great advisors and students who participated. Start planning now to attend the 2024 OETC race.