York Region, ON - Two York Region District School Board (YRDSB) schools brought home awards from the recent province-wide Skills Ontario Junk Drawer Races Competition.
Ashton Meadows Public School in Markham finished in first place in the Cardboard Car Competition, with a team of three Grade four students; Chloe Choi, Giselle Bai and Melissa Dai.
“I am very proud of the team for all of their hard work. It definitely paid off coming in first place in both the provincial and regional levels,” said Grade Four Gifted Teacher Gaiyathry Nadarajah. “This experience allowed the students to understand how to navigate in the real world. For example, when they had difficulties with the car, the ability to problem solve, collaborate and communicate with their peers definitely gave them insight on how to approach and solve problems similar to those they will encounter in the future.”
(Left to right) Melissa Dai, Chloe Choi and Giselle Bai won first place in the Skills Ontario Junk Drawer Cardboard Car race.
In the Hydraulic Crane Competition, Richmond Hill’s Beynon Fields Public School Team One took home second place. The Grade eight students who made up the team were Alexander Dai, Adam Gharibnavaz, Frewen Jia and Steven Xu.
“Although we may not have gotten first place this time, we truly have valued the raw experience this competition has brought to us, not only from an engineering perspective, but also from a collaborative point of view,” the students said. “All in all, this experience has been one of a lifetime, one that will remain in our hearts for years to come and we hope to participate in more events like such.”
Beynon Fields PS Grade Eight Teacher Heather Murley added; “I was very happy to have the opportunity for my Grade eights to apply their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) knowledge in a setting outside the classroom. There was a lot of interest in the competition, and we submitted 4 entries originally, with this team winning first place in Central Ontario!”
(Left to right) Steven Xu, Frewen Jai, Adam Gharibnavaz and Alexander Dai were all members of the Beynon Fields’ Hydraulic Crane Challenge Team.
The Skills Ontario Junk Drawer Challenge gave students an opportunity to compete in hands-on, skills-based activities aligned with the curriculum.
For more information on the YRDSB skills program, please visit: http://www.yrdsb.ca/skills.
York Region District School Board is the third largest school district in Ontario with over 125,000 students in 180 elementary schools and 33 secondary schools. York Region students consistently perform above average in provincial testing and the Board is one of the top achievers in Ontario. For more information about the York Region District School Board, please visit the Board website and follow YRDSB on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
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