Every year, the physics classes do an assignment where they have to drop a pumpkin off the school’s roof. They have to build a structure that will keep the pumpkin safe when they drop it. Many times, the pumpkin will break or crack, but sometimes the pumpkin remains undamaged. 

Varsity Baseball players Mason Olson, Cameron Ostmark, and Kyle Hoffman were in a group together. To prepare for the pumpkin drop Olson said they came up with the idea to “put a lot of hay in a big box,” so that’s exactly what they did. They dropped two different pumpkins, a 30-pound and a 40-pound pumpkin. Their 30-pound pumpkin survived the fall, but sadly, their 40-pound pumpkin did not. 

Junior, Nathan Reed had zero pumpkins make it through. His pumpkins were only five pounds, but when they were dropped onto his trampoline-like structure they broke. Reed’s idea was to make his structure like a trampoline, he used metal frames, rubber bands, and zip-ties. He stretched the rubber bands across the frame and used the zip ties to secure them. Although this was a very good idea, it didn’t work out in Reed’s favor. 

When Sophomore Azurettes Brynlee Ruoti, Addi Mckinnon, and Carly Mitchell prepared for the pumpkin drop, they decided that using a big cardboard box with lots of bubble wrap and lots of cushions was the best option to make sure their pumpkins would stay intact, and not break. Luckily for them, their contraption worked and all three of their ten-pound pumpkins survived the drop.

Sophomore Rylan Reed and Juniors, Morgan Pommerening and Ethan Fajard were all in a group together for the pumpkin drop. Out of their three seven-pound pumpkins, only two survived. The first pumpkin they dropped broke because they missed their target. To prepare for the drop they made their contraption out of PVC pipes, and a net to replicate a hammock to catch their pumpkins.

When Mr. Redford was asked why he likes this assignment, he said, “It is so fun and students are able to take the math and physics they’ve learned in class and put their skills into real life.”  The pumpkin drop went very well this year and Mr. Redford believes all the students did a very good job, he said their one downfall was “when they missed their target.” Overall the pumpkin drop seems to be a very fun and interactive assignment.