Dallas Drone Team Wins First Place at Regional Championship

DALLAS, Texas — The drone team from Harmony School of Innovation-Dallas, Team 60455A, earned the first-place Mission Champion award in the high school category at the 2026 South Central Aerial Drone High School Championship.

The competition, hosted in partnership with the REC Foundation, brought together 72 teams from across Texas, as well as competitors from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and New Mexico, underscoring the significance of the team’s achievement.

The HSI-Dallas Tiger A team, composed of Burak Sagat, Fares Harara, Nicholas Teixeira, and Ihsan Kucukel, demonstrated exceptional skill, precision, and teamwork during the competition, held April 10-11 at the Frisco Conference Center at Collin College in Frisco.

“This accomplishment reflects the students’ skill, innovation, and dedication throughout the season,” said Bayram Yuksekoglu, technology teacher and team coach. “The team worked consistently since the beginning of the year, meeting every week and dedicating extra time on weekends, especially before the championship. They also participated in two local competitions, where they performed very well in the group stages. These experiences helped them improve their strategy, coordination, and overall performance.”

Earlier in the season, the team worked to refine its performance and build consistency in competition settings, improvements that ultimately contributed to its success at the championship.

“Throughout the season, the team faced several technical and strategic challenges,” Yuksekoglu said. “Although they achieved strong results in the group stages of previous competitions, they struggled in the elimination rounds. However, they learned from these setbacks, stayed motivated, and managed to overcome their difficulties. This time, with better focus and determination, they succeeded.”

The team was guided by Yuksekoglu alongside physics teacher Ubeyde Tarin, whose mentorship and support helped lead the students to this major achievement.

Harmony Public Schools–North Texas continues to provide students with hands-on, STEM-focused learning opportunities through programs like drone competitions, preparing them for future success in engineering, technology, and innovation.

Harmony Public Schools is a Texas-born, Texas-wide public charter school system with more than 60 campuses serving PreK-12 students in 23 cities across the state. The district emphasizes STEM education, character education, project-based learning, and college readiness. Harmony School of Innovation-Dallas and Harmony Science Academy-Plano are currently accepting applications for the 2026-2027 school year.