By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Helped by a little “on the spot” learning, Union City High School students who made up the Canstruction Design Team earned special recognition at this year’s competition.
The UCHS bunch was awarded Best of Show and also received honorable mention recognition for Structural Integrity at the annual contest, again hosted by Discovery Park of America this week.
With the team needing specific cuts of wood to provide final stability to its entry, co-sponsor and MEP teacher Blake Gregg oversaw efforts to measure, cut, and sand the pieces in the DPA parking lot to complete the winning project.
Gregg was also involved in preparations beforehand, according to co-sponsor Hilary Webb.
“Our students prepped for several months, planning a design and developing a plan to build,” said Webb, who also teaches art at UCHS. “They practiced after school and had to solve many problems and modify plans while they learned what worked best for our design.
“And it was really neat and rewarding to see them improvise with Coach Gregg to finish what we needed in the end. It was truly a ‘hands-on experience.’”
Students from all teams were required to work within a budget to purchase cans and non-perishable food items, wood, and other supplies for their respective projects.
Members of the UCHS team included
Rohan Rajwadi, Montichello Dale, Lyla Webb, Maria Maldonado-Vasquez, Adolfo Pastor-Hernadez
Ca’Lae Ervin, Mattie Smith
Tayshun Gentry, Kyle Price
In a description of the group’s ‘Hunger Games’ design concept, students wrote:
Hunger in our world can be compared to a desk, a chair, and a computer gaming system – items that seem ordinary, but only function well when all parts are present. A desk without a chair is uncomfortable, a chair without a desk feels incomplete, and a gaming system without power or a screen is useless.
In the same way, the global hunger crisis is not caused by a lack of food alone, but by missing connections between resources, access, and responsibility.
While some people sit comfortably at their desks, gaming for hours with food within reach, millions of others are missing the basic pieces needed to survive.
The parts of this design are all complete, unlike a hunger solution. It includes a sturdy desk with an accompanying chair. Sitting on top of the desk, every gamer will recognize the illusion of a modern PC gaming system, complete with dual monitors, a high-speed modem, keyboard, and mouse.