What do you do with your empty Amazon cardboard boxes? Riverview Middle School eighth graders just added a ton of duct tape, a couple of swim noodles, and some paint, and they were all set for this year’s cardboard box boat races at the Rio Vista Community Pool.
On May 17th, Riverview Middle School 8th grade students, teachers, and parents gathered at Bruning Park for this year’s cardboard box boat regatta. Fifteen teams competed for awards in three categories: boat speed, design, and construction. Constructing a boat that supports two people usually takes about two weeks, and hopefully, it stays afloat long enough to reach the finish line.
Principal Marcy Rossi and the Riverview teaching staff have organized this event for the last three years to demonstrate the STEM skills they have been teaching. This event is for graduating 8th-grade students before they go on to high school next year. Ms. Bramara Vuyyuru, Riverview science teacher, took charge of the event, assisted by Ms. Sef Rounds, Mr. Matt Hoef, Mr. Pete Hamilton, Ms. Melody Greco, and Ms. Maria Roman.
The award for the fastest boat went to Mariah Pardue, Scout French, Naomi Cornelius, Maleah Brown, and Abraham Garcia Herrera.
Riverview Middle School expects to see more action like this next year, when this year’s 7th graders step up to the start line with their own cardboard crafts.