November 6, 1998
Students from Shawnee Heights High School, Tecumseh, won the design competition for the third year in a row. The students, all in teacher Mark Jarboe's physics class, built a Popsicle-stick tower nearly 84 inches tall, a foot and a half taller than their nearest competitor, to win first-place honors.
In the scholastic competition, students from Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, Kansas City, Mo., won first place among schools with enrollment of 700 or fewer students. Among large schools, Shawnee Mission South High School, Overland Park, won first place. Last year, that school came in third. Last year's winner, Oak Park High School, Kansas City, Mo., came in second this year.
More than 600 students attended the event. Sixty-four student teams participated in the design competition, in which each team had 30 minutes to build a tower from 1,000 Popsicle sticks and a pound of rubber bands. Towers were load-tested with a ream of copy paper. The scholastic tournament consisted of physics, math and chemistry tests at introductory and advanced levels. The top three schools in the events received engraved plaques.
The competition took place in the Kansas Union on the KU campus. The KU School of Engineering holds the annual event to give high school students a fun atmosphere in which to test their strengths in academics and structural design and to give them a chance to learn more about engineering education at KU.
Design competition winners are:
1st place: Shawnee Heights Senior High, Tecumseh, with a tower measuring 83-7/8 inches;
2nd place: Desoto High School, Desoto, with a tower measuring 65-7/8 inches;
3rd place: Van Horn High School, Independence, Mo., with a tower measuring 65-1/4 inches.
Scholastic tournament winners are divided according to enrollment. Winners among small schools (700 or fewer students) are:
1st place: Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, Kansas City, Mo.;
2nd place: Gardner-Edgerton High School, Gardner;
3rd place: (three-way tie) Spring Hill High School, Spring Hill;
Campus High School, Haysville;
Central Heights High School, Richmond.
Winners among large schools (more than 700 students) are:
1st place: Shawnee Mission South, Overland Park;
2nd place: Oak Park High School, Kansas City, Mo.;
3rd place: Blue Valley North High School, Overland Park.