What could be more fun than Halloween pumpkins you ask? Ask the students of St. Mary School and they will tell you pumpkins become much more fun when hurled through the air during a Punkin’ Chuckin’ competition! For those of you who may not know, Wikipedia defines Punkin’ Chuckin’ as the sport of hurling or ‘chucking’ a pumpkin solely by mechanical means for distance. The World Championship Punkin Chunkin, is held annually in November in Delaware by the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association (WCPCA), was the first and largest annual competition, most often held in Bridgeville, Delaware.
This year, the St. Mary School 7th and 8th graders came together to create a similar competition in their school. Working in small groups, teams came together to form a plan for construction and design. With the help of parent volunteers, the students built, revised and decorated their catapults for competition day. When the day arrived, all machines were placed in the back field of the school, lined up and armed with 2 pumpkins each for launch. The 6th graders acted as official spotters, measurers, and judges for the competition. Each machine was judged on theme & appearance along with total distance of two shots. The big winner was a catapult named Galaxy Narwhal. Team member Sarah Boggs said, “I feel special to be a part of the first winning team. I think ours won because of the pipe design”.
Sixth graders Lindsey Schaefer and Sophia Morano enjoyed their judging and measurement roles this year, but have already started thinking about what they will do when called to design their own next year. “We are really thinking about what it will look like and excited to work on it next year”. Check out our school Facebook page for full video of the launches.
St. Mary’s School Chardon is a Catholic School for grades preschool through 8 where students are encouraged to develop academically in an environment of faith, with a vision for the future. Later in the day, the Junior High hosted the lower grades during a Halloween carnival. They helped the younger students to create their own miniature sized catapults and make predictions about how far their pumpkins would launch and what the best design would be. All in all, the students had a fun day of celebration combined with learning!
For more information about St. Mary’s School Chardon: http://www.stmaryschoolchardon.org or Contact: mintihar@stmaryschoolchardon.org, Phone: 440-286-3590
Pictured In Left Photo: Quentin Fedak, Ethan McCaskey and Katya Cobb build a mini catapult during the Halloween carnival.
Pictured In Top Middle Photo: Team mates Max Buzogany, Jack Norton, and Andrew Ryan get ready to launch their catapult.
Pictured In Top Right Photo: Science teacher, Mrs. Amber Yeager assists a team during the Punkin Chuckin competition.
Pictured In Bottom Photo: Princesses can build catapults too! Avery Neill works with Max Buzogany to create a mini catapult during the Halloween Carnival.
