Facts were flying among teams of sixth- through eighth-grade African American students as they went head-to-head in an academic challenge as part of The University of Texas at Dallas’ annual “Aiming for the Stars” African American Male Academic Bowl. The contest offered middle schoolers the opportunity to compete in a points-based, three-tiered team competition. The event included a “Jeopardy!”-style academic quiz bowl, a MathCounts competition and an engineering design segment. This year’s challenge was to use straws to build a truss bridge — a load-bearing superstructure composed of connected elements usually forming triangular units. “For one day, these young men were true engineers, designing a bridge,” said David Robinson Jr., the event’s co-founder and assistant director of community engagement at UT Dallas.