Students Get to 'Try Engineering'

WAITSBURG – Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an engineer? Area high school students got a first-hand taste when students from Waitsburg, Touchet, and College Place attended a "Try Engineering" workshop at Walla Walla Community College on Feb. 16.

Eleven WHS students attended under the supervision of advanced math teacher Brad Green.

The workshop, hosted by WWCC professor Michelle Schmode, was designed to expose students to careers in engineering and show them how to get there by taking the right courses in high school and college, Green said.

Students spoke firsthand with mechanical, civil, electrical, and educational engineers from the Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla University, and Anderson Perry & Associates.

"The kids all seemed to have a great time and they asked questions to the engineers who came to share. The engineers were friendly, funny, and very convincing," Green said.

Students also spent time in hands-on challenges such as working in groups on a timed challenge to build a structure that would lift a marshmallow as high as possible off the table, using only string, tape, and 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti.

"If I were a high school student the workshop definitely would have convinced me to try engineering," Green said.