On Saturday, February 28, Thomas County Middle School students competed in the Southwest Georgia Regional Bridge Building Contest held at Albany State University. The contest, held annually for the past thirteen years, is part of the celebration of National Engineering Week at Albany State University and is sponsored by the Georgia Space Grant Consortium. Students must build bridges out of balsa wood and glue that meet certain design specifications. “It’s not all about how much the bridges hold but also how much the bridge weighs itself. They calculate a ratio between the two and that’s how the bridges are scored,” explained Clayton Woodfin, Thomas County Middle School coach/sponsor for the event.
This year 7th graders Chandler Fiveash and Ryland Ramhofer placed first in the middle school division with fifth grader Nathaniel Barber placing second. Eighth grader Nick Herndon competed as well but scored just outside of the top 3. Thomas County Middle School was awarded the Best in Middle School Division trophy as a result of the hard work of these young men.
Nathaniel Barber, Ryland Ramhofer, Chandler Fiveash, sponsor Clayton Woodfin, and Nick Herndon
First place winners Chandler Fiveash and Ryland Ramhofer look on as their bridge is scored