Yeshion House 8th Grade Science Students Become CT DOT Bridge Inspectors for a Day

Mrs. Rusnov's 8th grade science students took a trip to a $24 million bridge construction project in Naugatuck. CT DOT managers, engineers, inspectors, and contractors hosted 30 lucky students at the Route 63 bridge crossing the Naugatuck River and MetroNorth Railroad. With hardhats in place, the students saw crane operators, steel workers, framers,and concrete specialists at work. Richard Symonds, the CT DOT Project Manager, described the very complex nature of the job, including its design, materials of construction, costs, methods of construction, use of contractors and inspectors and job safety.

The students are in the midst of a bridge design competition facilitated by Mrs. Rusnov and math teacher Mrs. Camilleri. Hopefully, the students were inspired by seeing the real thing and will bring design innovations back to their model bridges. Winning bridges will be announced in June.

To close the day, students had a relaxing lunch at McDonald's and for some reason didn't seem too anxious leave!

-Mel Rusnov

Yeshion House 8th Graders "Let it Fly" Before Thanksgiving

Mrs. Rusnov's 8th grade science students really "let it fly" before the Thanksgiving holiday break. Given the task of using household materials to design a package to protect a raw egg from a drop from the roof of Wallace Middle School, the students came up with some weird and wacky, but effective, designs. Students constructed some winning designs, and our intrepid custodian Mr. Carl did the toss from the roof.

Students anxiously awaited below to check out the results. Although not all designs were successful, a good time was had by all. Winners were The Feathered Dishwashing Glove (Joanna Vargas), The Hairy Soda Bottle (David Alvarez), Socks and Sneakers (Robert Eason), Chef Boy-ar-Dee (Jakar Stallings), and Cones and Parachutes (Patricia Myer).