Newport News fourth and fifth grade students became civil engineers as they designed and constructed a free standing cell phone tower that can support a symbolic antenna. The design challenge presented by Verizon and named Tower Power, taught students the science behind a text message and about the different types of cell towers.

The student teams learned about blueprints, scale models and binary coding before they began to build. Using a blueprint and some household items, the teams had to construct a lattice tower that could support a certain weight (symbolic of the antenna on top of cellular towers). While the students worked on their designs, family members were also given the opportunity to build their own cell tower. Verizon representatives and Heritage High School Governor's STEM Academy students were on site to assist and answer questions.

Winners were selected based on the cell tower design, height and amount of supported weight. Greenwood Elementary School's design earned them first place, the Jenkins Elementary team placed second and Newsome Park Elementary placed third in the challenge. The design challenge is part of the school district's ongoing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education initiative.