Grade 9 students from St. Timothy High School discovered they can create some amazing things with limited supplies and a little innovation on Jan. 29.
Eight students from the school attended the Southern Alberta Skills Exploration Day at Winsport International Arena in Calgary to learn various trade skills and then put that knowledge to the test building a special project.
From plumbing and welding to graphic design, the students were immersed in the skills they would need to finish their project and building on knowledge acquired through their Career and Technology Foundations classwork.
“It’s a wonderful thing for everyone to experience. You learn so many things,” said Micholai Tarnowski, who, along with teammates Bruno Barnowski, Caitlyn Archibald and Kendyl DiFonzo, used their two-hour project time to design and build a roll down safety door.
Called the Drop Down Door or Triple D, the apparatus, built from sheet metal, is designed to roll down in front of classroom doors in the event of a lock down emergency – such as an intruder.
Tarnowski points out that such emergencies are rare in Cochrane, but added the thought of the idea a concept that might give students and parents extra piece of mind.
“You always take extra precautions, just in case,” he said.
Barnowski said the team was pleased with what they came up with and even happier they were able to complete it despite some challenges.
For example when they were designing the roll down feature of the door, they discovered there were no hinges in the supplies available to them. Improvising, the students used Zip Ties instead.
“It worked pretty darn well,” said Barnowski.
“We learned how to innovate,” added Tarnowski.
DiFonzo highlighted another important skill the group used during the day - teamwork.
“The best part of it all was we worked well together and it went really smoothly,” she said.
Also attending the event featuring schools from across Southern Alberta were Azariah Peever, Paityn Murray, Ben Walker and Thomas Morrison, who designed an indoor garden. They were coached by teachers Lori Mayer and Doug Altrogge.
