Seventh graders recently took on the roles of engineers to build and test their own bridges as part of an assignment in teacher Skyler Mosenthal’s Intro to Engineering class.

The students were challenged to use index cards to create a bridge that spans a distance of 12 inches between a stack of books, stand at a height of at least 10 inches and support a 3.3-ounce Lego car. With a hypothetical budget of $1,300, with index cards at $75 and 1-inch pieces of masking tape at $50, the students had to be efficient with their designs and building materials.

“The car had to begin crossing, stop for 10 seconds in the middle of the bridge, then make it safely to the other side,” Mosenthal said. “Many bridges stood up to the test, some did not; all engineers succeeded in thoughtfully articulating what worked, what did not work, and why when concept-defending their designs.”

The students will continue to solidify their knowledge with the next project – a parachute challenge. They will repeat the process of design, finance, build and concept-defend to flight test their parachutes from the school’s library balcony.

Rye Neck Middle School seventh grader Micah Deckinger has won the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Lions Club’s Peace Poster Contest for expressing his vision for this year’s theme, “Peace Through Service.”

“Approximately 60 seventh graders from the middle school participated in the schoolwide competition this year,” art teacher Trisha Appel said. “This project was something that they worked on independently at home while I gave them guidance through in-person discussion when their cohort met at school, as well as through email on days we didn’t see each other.”

High school art teachers Jennifer Dallow and Karen Fontecchio narrowed down the entries to five finalists – Aoife Bronnimann, Myli Bruno, Emma Cusson, Micah Deckinger and Raphael Tan – to represent Rye Neck Middle School at the local branch contest. A panel of judges at the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Lions Club selected Deckinger as the winner based on originality, artistic merit and portrayal of the theme while Bruno and Tan were named runners-up. Deckinger’s poster will be submitted to the district-level competition for further judging. Bruno, Deckinger and Tan were honored for their participation during a recognition ceremony via Zoom on Nov. 6.

The Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest provides children with the opportunity to express their creativity and visions of peace through art. As part of the contest, students’ posters advance through several rounds of competition before an international winner is declared in the spring.