John Muir Students Win JPL Solar Boat Cup Competition

A group of students from John Muir High School engineering team won a competition for solar-powered boats hosted by JPL on May 13, according to district officials.

The race was held on Lake Skinner, in Riverside County, and involved a speed contest and an endurance contest, where the boats had to perform over a 90 minute period.

John Muir High School's Engineering & Environmental Sciences finished the sprint race in 48 seconds and completed nine laps in 90 minutes in the endurance race.

The small boat, pictured at right, was piloted by Muir High School seniors Miguel Reyes, Camille Navata, and Arianna Villafuerte.

The entire team was honored last Tuesday at the Pasadena Unified School Board meeting, where triumphant board members were pleased to note that the school edged out better-funded neighboring school districts like Arcadia and La Canada Flintridge.

That same feeling is captured in the district's press release, which reads: "The come-from-behind Solar Cup victory symbolizes the remarkable turnaround of Muir High School, which was identified as a low-performing school by the state and placed in the federal program improvement four years ago for failing to meet state and federal academic progress requirements."