Forward July 2017 | Page 20

SENIOR SCHOOL Our drone experts take on the dogs and win! Photo by David Bayliss, supplied courtesy of Community Newspaper group. A small group of students travelled to the Muresk Institute in Northam in late May for the inaugural Dog v Drone trials, learning about the advancements in modern farming technologies and finding out more about careers in the agricultural industry. Twelve student pilots were selected to compete in the trials, which involved racing a drone through an obstacle course on Muresk’s oval. Congratulations to Year 10 student Ben Farrell (10Be) who won a drone for himself and one for the School, completing the course in an impressive 18 seconds. Year 11 student Fraser Vernon (11Ha) tells us more about the day: “I had a wonderful time at the Drone v Dog trials, especially because I was representing the School in a special event for the first time. I’m not really a fan of agriculture but I really wanted to compete mainly for the aviation side of it. However, the agriculture side was interesting. It was a fun and exciting day for me. I was a little nervous getting up in front of a lot of people and flying the drone through various obstacles. Ben and I had our fingers crossed, hoping to win the competition, which fortunately we did! I am really proud of Ben for winning the competition and proud of myself for putting in my best effort. I would like to give special thanks to Mr Credaro and Mrs Carter for driving us to Northam and being part of our cheer squad. Thank you also to Mrs Truscott for allowing us to enter the competition. Since Guildford Grammar School now has a drone, I hope that someday, during a school event, Ben and I can use the drone to take some aerial photographs.” 20