This is one of four teams from Hollis Elementary Schools!

Meet Amit, Jack, Abby, Jenna and Patrick! This team will represent New Hampshire in the Elementary SWITCH! team Challenge!

The members of the "Pezmanian Devils" team agree that building a strong structure was the most challenging part of this year's challenge. Jack said, "The hardest part was deciding which design was best, and how to build it so that it was the strongest possible, but not too heavy." The team tested many different designs, and Amit said that "building all the structures took the longest... cutting all the many pieces, gluing them, and waiting for it to dry before we could test it." Jenna noted that the precision required for a strong structure was challenging, saying, "We had to make sure the wood was cut to exactly the right size, not too long, and not too short." The team built and tested over five different designs, with many variations of each, until they finally settled on their competition structure. They estimate that they built and crashed about 20 structures en route to their winning design.

For Jack and Amit, the lessons in structure design were the most rewarding. As Amit said, "I learned a lot about building structures and angles. I also loved to act." Jenna found great reward in learning "that you can make a lot using just cardboard boxes, paint, and duct tape." Abby learned a lesson from the overall experience and in the reward for months of hard work: "When it was announced we were going to Globals, it felt great inside. We knew we did our best."

While they clearly put in many months of hard work, there was no shortage of fun on this team... from hopping around in body-sized boxes decorated into PEZ dispensers, to creating a candy wheel and other cool props, this team had lots of fun, too. Jenna, one of the main playwrights, thought that writing the skit was the most fun. She and Abby had lots of giggles coming up with the storyline, funny dialogue, and song lyrics. Amit and Abby enjoyed the acting most of all. As Abby said, "Acting out the skit for the audience was the best. It just felt great to be out there." Jack and Patrick had the most fun crashing all the test structures. "It was really cool to see how much each design could hold," Jack noted. "It was fun guessing how strong it might be, then testing it to see if we were right. It was interesting to look at the pieces after a crash to see where the weak points were."

This young team has been together for three years now, with this being their first year out of Rising Stars. They are very excited for their big trip to Tennessee, and are proud to represent Hollis Elementary School and the State of New Hampshire!!

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More information about this team will be posted from Knoxville as it is relayed from the team!