After the rescheduling of Fall Fest in 2020, the annual activity finally picked back up on Thursday, Nov. 4 and Friday, Nov. 5. The sixth graders and the high school’s Physics Club students gathered to take part in many different science-related activities and projects. The seventh annual Fall Fest was organized by high school physics teacher Dr. Brian Wargo and sixth grade science and math teacher Ms. Jeanine Ging. 

Last year, Fall Fest had to be moved until near the end of the school year because of COVID-19 precautions and virtual schooling. Students this year were allowed to collaborate and work together again. These circumstances allowed for the middle and high school students to finally gather together in classrooms and outside again, like years past. 

On Thursday, the students spent most of their time inside the middle school. The sixth graders did a pumpkin math activity where they counted pumpkin seeds and used the seeds to complete several calculations. Also, they constructed their pumpkin derby cars for the race on Friday. The Physics Club members helped the kids put axles and wheels on their pumpkins, and each group designed a unique car. Additionally, they used model trebuchets to demonstrate what the large one would look like on Friday. They catapulted weights off of the models and gathered data from the results of the launches. 

“Fall Fest allows an opportunity for our high school Physics Club to act as mentors for sixth grade,” Ging said. 

On Friday, the students mostly did activities outdoors next to the high school, and they worked in temperatures as low as 40 degrees. The sixth graders raced their pumpkin cars down the ramp and launched several different items off of the trebuchet. Pumpkins and two liter bottles were both seen soaring through the air as the trebuchet sent them flying. Physics Club worked hard the whole morning by constructing the ramp for the pumpkin races and setting up the trebuchet. 

“The best part about Fall Fest was building our pumpkin derby cars, but seeing the two liter bottles of water launch off the trebuchet was cool, too,” sixth grade student Jonathan Davis said.

Fall Fest is a great way for students to learn different sides of science and see real-life demonstrations of different concepts.

“All students learn aspects of physics and math by actively doing science, building pumpkin derby cars, launching trebuchets and ‘chunkin pumpkins,’” Ging said. 

The seventh annual Fall Fest was a success for both the sixth graders and Physics Club, and many students were glad to see the tradition make a reappearance.