OHS Students Sink, Swim and Sail Ships in POT Class

By Ryan Teichman, OHS Torch Reporter

            Olympia High School students in Principles of Technology class recently designed boats out of cardboard; duct tape, and paint, students had to complete a strategic course while in the boat.  Next students tried to see if their creations were actually sea worthy--down in the OHS pool!

            The competition consisted of two classes with an average group size of 4 people; there were 7 groups in the race. The race was an obstacle course, involving picking up an anchor, maneuvering around pop bottles, turning a corner, placing the anchor inside a sunken hula hoop and then racing to the finish. The boat races were held in the natatorium (the OHS pool).

            Only 3 of the 7 groups completed the course, proving the difficulty of the course and the design of boats. The group “Ships n Gigs” which consisted of OHS Seniors Ashton Beachy, Taylor Wilkins, Needhi Jayswal, and Bryson Gottschalk, and Junior Johnny Payton. Ships n Gigs completed ¾ of the course lowering the anchor in the hula hoop, after that water started flowing in the boat taking it down.
            The winning group was “The Floater” which consisted of OHS Seniors Zach Darnall, Logan Darnall, and Tyler Bruner. They completed the course in a fast paced time of 2:23. Their boat design looked like a john boat, a john boat is a boat that is a rectangle with a 45 degree angle cut in the front of the boat to help reduce surface area. The boat was covered in construction tyvek water proof tape.
            Mr. Rackuaskas, the Principles of Technology teacher, said, “I made this project because I wanted to be a pirate and live up to my name Mr.R.” Rackuaskas said, “The kids learned things sink, engineering, buoyancy, weight distribution, and people can’t breathe under water.”

            OHS Senior Alex Ewalt said, “It was nice to get to use the project instead of making it and throwing it away.” Ewalt was a ship navigator for the group “Floating Taco” which completed the course in a time of 3:02. Ewalt’s group consisted of OHS Senior Chance Weise, and OHS Senior Montel Devore-Biggs.
            OHS Senior Logan Darnall said, “The most fun part about this project was destroying the competition.” Darnall also said, “I learned how to calculate buoyancy, and if you want to get beat really bad just hit me up.”
            OHS Senior Taylor Desch said, “The hardest part about this project was the support system and the distribution of weight.” This project was a blast to watch with a crowd filling the upper deck of the pool area and in the hallway which you can see in the pool.
            Rackuaskas said, “Yes, I was extremely happy with the results, and next year they will be better, learning from past results.”
Rackuaskas also said, “If anyone would like to donate an anchor, buoy or small boat for the trophy, it would be greatly appreciated.”