Seventh Graders at SJHS Create Mechanical Arms

On September 24th, Mr. Rencher, CTE teacher at Springville Junior High School, talked to his students about a new project that they were required to do. All tudents in the Technology Education class were assigned to construct a mechanical arm out of certain materials like pvc pipes and whatnot. The seventh graders would then test them out on October 18th.        

Some people have lost limbs on their bodies, and sometimes they have to get robotic/mechanical parts to replace them. Students in Mr. Rencher’s class were able to use their own mechanical arms to grab a piece of candy from the bottom of a jug. The point of the project was to test the students mechanical abilities and engineering talents. McKenna Whitby, Michael Bravo, Maria Armirez, and Benton Aegerter, all students in Mr. Rencher’s CTE class, were all able to complete their mechanical arms. All of them agree that the assignment was fun to work on. Michael Bravo said, “The majority of the class made them. You couldn’t go to the store and buy a kit to build them, you had to make them from scratch.” Maria Armirez also thought that the project was fun, and she said, “It wasn’t a competition, and to prepare us for it, Mr. Rencher had us watch videos about mechanical arms and look at some of his old ones.” Benton Aegerter and McKenna Whitby both agreed that it was a fun project and that it helped them know what it was like to have just one arm. 

Mr. Rencher’s class has finished their task, but the next two trimester classes will have to do it as well. Good luck!