The Physics Club hosted the annual Fall Fest for the sixth-grade students on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at both the middle and high schools. Fall Fest promotes learning among younger students and exposes them to real-world applications in a fun and safe environment.
Aside from organizational help from high school physics teacher Dr. Brian Wargo and sixth-grade math teacher Ms. Jeanine Ging, Fall Fest activities are entirely student-run. The main source of this leadership comes from the Physics Club officers. Physics Club President Payton Bickerstaff (12) led this year’s preparations, which began several weeks before the event. Officers, as well as returning members, tested the activities beforehand to ensure a swift and organized setup. This practice session also served as a chance to teach newer members the ropes. One notable example was when the club took a trip outside to construct mini trebuchets using only string, a rubber stopper and a meter stick.
“Participating in Fall Fest and making an impact on the kids’ days is one of the best feelings. Knowing that they are learning something new in a fun way that they will remember until they eventually get the chance to help in high school is very rewarding,” Bickerstaff said.
Though spread out, the activities primarily took place in the middle school between Ging’s room and the gymnasium. In the gym, students constructed mini trebuchets and used them to collect data on how the mass of an object affects the distance it can travel. The sixth-grade students used this activity to assist with data collection and relate it back to their current mathematics topics: mean, median, mode and range. Other projects included the Pumpkin Car Derby Race, where high school students drilled holes in the bases of pumpkins and helped the younger students assemble their own racing derby cars.
In addition to her hard work, Bickerstaff had another advantage in hosting a successful Fall Fest: her older brother, Logan Bickerstaff, was Physics Club president just last year.
“For me, leading Fall Fest was a ton of fun, and because my brother had done it last year, I had someone I could go to if I had questions, which made it easier,” Bickerstaff said. “If I ever needed help with what to do, he was always a call away.”
As per Fall Fest tradition, the festivities concluded with the grand finale. Physics Club members arrived at school early to assemble a full-scale trebuchet, which they used to hurl various-sized pumpkins across the high school campus.
“My favorite part of Fall Fest is the trebuchet. I think it is so cool to see everything get launched,” Thomas Ward (12) said.
The launching ceremony serves as both a fun spectacle for the younger students and as a symbol of what they can accomplish when they work hard in school.
“The best part of Fall Fest is when the kids realize physics and the things we do are fun. When we launched the pumpkins and water bottles off the big trebuchet, all their reactions were priceless,” Bickerstaff said.