Eisenhower High School students float their own boats

Eisenhower High School students recently floated some unique designs in the hopes of capturing a cardboard boat championship.

Approximately 300 students took part in the first ever Career and Technical Education/Physics cardboard boat regatta.

The event required teams of students from seven different programs to create a cardboard boat they could successfully paddle back and forth across the school’s pool.

“The goal was to get different classrooms of students together to work collaboratively,” said teacher Ryan deCardenas. “We wanted to create a real-life situation where students who may not know each other have to learn to work together.”

Students were given four 4 X 8 foot sheets of cardboard to create their boat. Senior Bella Palazzolo said the trick was to create pontoons in the design and to stay away from other competitors to avoid water splashing into your boat. “It was a fun, collaborative project,” she said.

Students from Career and Technical Education construction, woods, auto, auto 1, design and engineering, architecture and physics classes took part in the project.