Submarine team wins

The competition was to create a project that would help the community, but four sixth-grade students at Mesa View Middle School in Huntington Beach created something that would not only make Surf City safer, but hopefully stop a tragedy from happening again.

The remote-operated vehicle, or ROV, is designed to go underwater and has a video camera to help lifeguards detect dangerous objects and animals that could be lurking in the water — an idea that was inspired by the death of 11-year-old Junior Lifeguard Allyssa Squirrell.

Huongly Do, 12, Zachary Goodale, 12, Jacob Rosenberg, 11, and Daniel Klemm, 12, won a national science competition, eCybermission, sponsored by the U.S. Army, for their creation.

The four are part of Mesa View’s GATE math and science program and are one of 96 teams to be chosen out of 3,300 across the country.

“It was very, very impressive what they did,” said Lorie Kooken, Mesa View’s sixth-grade GATE math and science teacher.

The students didn’t really know what they wanted to do at first, but the death of Allyssa, who was accidentally hit by a boat during a routine training exercise July 14, inspired Daniel, a Junior Lifeguard himself.

“It was really sad, so we just thought [we’d make this] so it wouldn’t happen again,” Daniel said.

Out of that idea came the ROV.

“We wanted to build it so we could assist the lifeguards,” Huongly said.

It can be used to check if there are stingrays or any other dangerous objects lurking in the water, Jacob said.

“We’re always looking for better ways and ways to make it safer for the public and our employees,” said Newport Beach lifeguard Batallion Chief Jim Turner.

Zachary learned to build ROVs at summer camp, and combined with the research the other three did, managed to build their own in less than two months — a deadline they weren’t sure they were going to make, said Kathy Pirkle, the team’s advisor and Zachary’s mom.

The hardest part was trying to find time with everyone’s busy work schedules, the kids said. The task was a kind of “mission impossible,” Kooken said, but the kids managed by coming in at lunch and staying after school.

“You had to kind of sacrifice time to get together with everybody,” Zachary said.

The sacrifice paid off. The quartet, called Surf City Submarines, won for team collaboration and communication, and each member will receive a $2,000 savings bond for college

The four plan on entering the competition again next year and continuing the work on the ROV, with the intent of putting it to another use.

— Reporter Joseph Serna contributed to this report.