Luis Salcido laughs as Richard Demartelaere watches his partner and the tail end of the cardboard canoe sink Friday at the University of Texas at El Paso Swimming and Fitness Center during the culminating event of the ExciTES Camp. Photo by Virginia Reza.
Future engineers race cardboard canoes
“Sink, sink!” chanted the youth as their rivals raced canoes crafted from cardboard sheets, packing tape and glue at the University of Texas at El Paso Swimming and Fitness Center Friday during the ExciTES Camp’s culminating exercise.
The weeklong Excellence in Technology, Engineering and Science Camp, hosted by UTEP, was geared to attract youth toward future engineering careers.
Fourteen Fort Bliss youth participated in the event where they learned teamwork and civil-, mechanical- and electrical-engineering methods. Projects included the design and assembly of a bridge made of popsicle sticks, motorized model cars and the egg drop project, which taught the participants about safety engineering. The teams were given a plastic bag, rubber bands and cord. They were instructed to use their ingenuity to construct whatever they thought would protect their egg from a fall. A gift certificate was given to the team whose egg did not break.
The last project was the cardboard canoes, which required the teams to build their floating devices in one day. They had to apply lessons learned on what floats and doesn’t float and principles such as buoyancy and weight. The team members whose canoe drifted through the most laps were awarded medals with a symbol of engineering.
“We divide high school and middle school kids,” said Asha Garcia, ExciTES lead student ambassador. “Sometimes middle school kids end up teaching the high school kids. It is really interesting to see how they bond together by the end of the week. They become really good friends.”
Bryan Belanos and Henry Ward, ExciTES campers, race their cardboard canoe as the one behind them is discarded after sinking during the camp’s culminating exercise Friday. Photo by Virginia Reza.
Bryan Bolanos, a 12-year-old Fort Bliss participant, thought the camp was going to be boring, but said it turned out to be one of his favorite camps in which he has participated. His favorite part was constructing and racing the canoe. He said the program sparked an interest to pursue an engineering degree.
“I learned about technology, science and different types of engineering,” Bryan said. “The camp is awesome because you learn and at the same time you have fun.”
James Terranova, world history teacher at Burges High School and youth program assistant at Fort Bliss Youth Services, said these types of educational, hands-on programs are not offered enough in the school system.
“We need to plant the seed,” Terranova said. “If we are not planting the seed as educators and mentors, then we are not succeeding – especially with the new generation. They are very hands-on and technology-oriented.”