Highlands College recently hosted high school students in the Annual TrigSTAR Competition. TrigSTAR is a national competition sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) and by the Southwest Chapter of the Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors. The competition consists of a math test for high school trigonometry students, testing their knowledge of angles, distances, and trig functions.
“Trigonometry is used in many different professions,” said Eric Martin, Civil Engineering Technology Instructor. “It is an area of Math which has many real life applications, including surveying.”
The SW Chapter winner was Marie Steiger from Butte High School. She is the daughter of Suzann Nordwich and Todd Steiger. The first runner-up of the SW Chapter was Kamie West, also from Butte High. She is the daughter of Natalie and Ken West. Montana’s state-wide winner will be eligible to compete against the other 49 state winners in the national TrigSTAR competition.
“The TrigSTAR competition is a fun and exciting event which helps help raise high school students’ awareness of valuable career opportunities in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Dr. John M. Garic, Dean of Highlands College. “It is of national importance that US colleges produce more graduates in the STEM areas.”
The competition split the students’ day into two sessions. In the morning session, current Highlands Civil Engineering Technology students taught the high school students about the surveying profession, showed them how tools and measurements are used by surveyors, and provided examples how math and trigonometry are important to the profession. The afternoon session included the competitive exam.
For any further information about this issue or any issue pertaining to Montana Tech, please contact Dr. John M. Garic, 406-496-3714 or Amanda Badovinac at 406-496-4828.