Ships ahoy! Making waves at Morristown High, the old-fashioned way

1

For years, we thought that Archimedes’ principle was the guy who ran his high school.

Who knew that it really was all about how long two guys can paddle a cardboard box in a swimming pool?

That was the scene Wednesday at Morristown High School, where six teams tried to prove a point:

Namely, that if you want to visit England, you have a better chance if you climb inside your shipping carton and spring for some stamps.

Please click icon below for captions

Still, you have to credit engineering teacher Jack Rizzo and his students for ingenuity.  Each two-man team was given one roll of duct tape, one tube of construction adhesive, and one slab of cardboard. The challenge was to see who could make the fastest round-trip under two minutes in the pool…without landing under water.

“We learned about water displacement,” said student Peter Bacas. “It was kind of accurate.”

Which is a polite way of saying… he and David Murray finished last. But their soggy vessel, christened the U.S.S. Bev, in honor of MHS security guard and ’83 alum Bev Bell, did not sink.  Pretty remarkable, actually. We’re talking cardboard here.

Jack said this was Year 10 of the boat competition, in which students apply lessons learned in his engineering- and computer-aided-design classes.  It marked the first time that the event was part of the MHS Art Show.

The show also featured battling muralists,  a contest refereed by Arts By the People. Everything concludes tonight, May 23, 2013, with the school’s first film festival. It starts at 7 pm. If it’s anything like the boat races, we’re expecting to see hand-made screens and projectors!

ROGUE WAVE? Peter Bacas and David Murray capsize after cardboard boat contest at Morristown High School. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
ROGUE WAVE? Peter Bacas and David Murray capsize after cardboard boat contest at Morristown High School. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

1 COMMENT

  1. Shout out to Mr. Rizzo!! Back in my day we built bridges out of balsa, to see whose could hold the most weight.

LEAVE A REPLY