Middle schoolers race homemade boats at OCCC

Brady Curry
News Writing Student

The smell of chlorine and the sound of cheers filled the Aquatic Center Oct. 9 when a group of eighth graders from Newcastle Middle School raced their homemade boats.

The winning team was B.O.A.T. They defeated the S.S. Minnow.

The boats raced from one side of the swimming pool to the other and back again, a distance of about 75 meters.

Students began the project by forming groups of three, adding up to approximately 40 teams.

There was one person in the boat, one person to push them off the side, and one person to turn them around and push them back to the finish line.

“They chose pictures of what they wanted their boat to look like,” said Wesley Southwell, a coordinator at the event.

The teams were allowed to use a 4-foot-by-8-foot piece of cardboard and unlimited quantities of duct tape to construct their boats.

“They probably spent $500 on duct tape,” said Darin Guthrie, a spectating parent.

Southwell said this is the third year his school has been doing this event at OCCC.

“It was a lot of fun to make the boat,” said Jessica Talley, one of the team members. “We worked on it for three days.”

The project was more than just fun for the students, Southwell said, it also was educational.

“It teaches them not only how to work in a group, but also how to use their math skills to make the boat,” he said.