- November 27, 2024
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Bashaw Elementary School’s Allee Owen pushed back on a white plastic spoon strategically placed between pieces of wood, two clothespins and the rubber band circling them.
She and teammates Valerie Marina, Aliza Lara and Emma Faller were eager to load mini pom poms into the spoon and test their recently constructed catapult for competition.
“It’s intense,” Allee said of the Manatee County Technology Student Association District Competition’s catapult contest Dec. 2. “You see other (catapults) and they look really really good, and you’re like, ‘Oh, no,’ and then you realize you’re OK. But, then you turn around again and it’s the same thing.”
Just then, neighbor and fellow Bashaw student Abby Jackson launched a pom pom down the table, nearly hitting Allee and teammates.
“Sorry! I didn’t realize it would go that far,” Abby said.
Allee grinned. She was ready to compete.
The girls all were up to the TSA challenge, held at Braden River High School.
More than 800 students and advisers attended the event, which included students from 29 Manatee County schools, eight Sarasota County schools and three Hillsborough County schools. The 30 events focused on catapults, dragsters, structures, flight, graphics, architecture, video,and other technology and engineering topics.