Six Palmer Trinity School students flew their way to a fourth-place national finish at the 2026 Drones in School National Championship in Detroit, the school announced through Community Newspapers. The Palmetto Bay squad competed against high school teams from across the country in a contest that blends engineering, marketing and head-to-head drone racing.

The Falcon drone team includes Matias Lara, Justina Rodriguez, Samuel Aguirre, Madison Keller, Isaac Kromo and Yihang Zheng. Together they designed, built and raced a first-person-view drone, the kind piloted through goggles that stream a live camera feed from the aircraft.

The championship was held this spring as part of the AUVSI XPONENTIAL conference.

The Falcons posted strong results across multiple judging categories: third in portfolio and display, fourth in head-to-head racing and fifth in marketing video.

Before reaching Detroit, the team placed second at the Florida State Championship and took home the Excellence Award, a top honor for aircraft design. Judges described the drone as "durable" and "elegant," citing its exceptional fabrication and precise assembly.

"This achievement reflects our team's incredible hard work, technical skill and collaborative spirit," head of school Patrick Roberts said.

The Drones in School program assigns students six defined roles on each team: project manager, graphic designer, manufacturing engineer, design engineer, marketing coordinator and drone technician. The structure pushes competitors beyond piloting into project management and branding. The Falcons' marketing video listed FPL, Palmer Trinity and Rudmology Center as sponsors.

Palmer Trinity fields 51 athletic teams across grades 6–12. The drone team's national finish follows another standout result: a seventh-grader qualified for the World Sailing Championship in June.

The 2026–27 Drones in School season schedule has not yet been announced. Palmer Trinity's school year begins Wednesday, Aug. 19.