Sarah Bishop – Science Teacher

As the Year 9 STEAM students walked out the gates, boats in hand, on Friday afternoon last week, their excitement was palpable! For weeks students have had their noses down, tinkering for hours to construct the fastest, most reliable boat possible. When provided with the raw materials, with no instructions on how a solar panel worked or how to assemble the equipment to have a motor spin in an appropriate direction, the students were perplexed.

After almost a year of problem solving and designing, they used the skills that they had developed and the tools available to make this boat work!

With a boat in hand, there needed to be an event to race them. The class was responsible for planning and catering the Inaugural Emanuel Regatta at Clovelly Beach. With the smell of sunscreen and success in the air, 11 students launched their boats. The varying designs had equally varied results. While some sped off straight for the finish line, others preferred to take a slower paced, more scenic route. And we might not mention the boat that had to be rescued by a passing snorkeller as it headed out to sea… Aaron Glass is to be commended on his official win.

All students are, however, to be congratulated on their success. What a year it has been learning to work collaboratively in a new environment with many new tools to solve, at times, the most perplexing problems.