By Lucas Smith
With the second annual OHS Boat Regatta approaching fast, students prepare for a cruise to remember, using cardboard and tape students take on the great sail across the OHS pool.
during the 2015 spring semester, OHS Science teacher Mr. Rackauskas was looking for a new and exciting project for his Principles of Technology class. Boats seemed a simple idea, but Mr. Rackauskas brought a bigger challenge then to build just an ordinary boat.
The P.O.T. class is an engineering and design class, structured for hands on projects filled with a lot critical thinking which bring out student creativity and problem solving abilities.
The Boat Regatta is a project where students are only allowed to use tape and cardboard to build a life size boat; not only do they have to design and build this structure from such basic materials, the boat is required to hold 3 of the group's students.
“Even though this project is new to OHS, I really enjoyed our fist run last semester and it will be a project I continue to give to my classes in the Future,” said Mr. Rackauskas
Last year the project was a large success, drawing a large crowd from the other classes throughout OHS to watch the Regatta. The project even drew attention from the surrounding community when Local news channels and The Pantagraph shared the story on the internet and in the newspaper.
“I particularly like the creativity of this project because not only do I see the different designs, I get to also watch how my students solve the issue of strengthening the boats to hold the weight of the kids,” said Mr. Rackauskas.
The class plans on another successful year of boat building along with hopes to make the project even bigger than it was in the past.
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