{"id":239853,"date":"2026-03-27T21:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T21:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/239853\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T21:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T21:56:12","slug":"garcia-memorial-high-school-hosts-5th-annual-engineering-day-with-cardboard-canoe-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/239853\/","title":{"rendered":"Garcia Memorial High School hosts 5th Annual Engineering Day with cardboard canoe race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cardboard canoes, costumes and a \u201cbattle of the boats\u201d are drawing students and staff to the water at Garces Memorial High School<\/a>, where the campus held its fifth annual Engineering Day. The annual event showcases the creativity and problem-solving skills of students in the school’s “Project Lead the Way” engineering pathway.<\/p>\n

Students spent the morning putting finishing touches on their cardboard canoes ahead of the day\u2019s races, one of the event\u2019s biggest highlights. Among the competitors was 11th-grader Cianna Anotongiovanni, who said her team\u2019s boat was inspired by a longtime teacher, Mr. John L. Fanucki, and designed as the \u201cmath mobile,\u201d with formulas drawn across the top.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Image – 2026-03-27T095639.939.jpg<\/p>\n

Cianna said she adjusted her design after learning from last year\u2019s attempt. She said her previous boat was flat and sank, so this year\u2019s version has a tipped front edge to help it cut through the water and move faster. She also said her team made paddles out of cardboard and tape to help move through the water.<\/p>\n

Cianna expressed how “Project Lead the Way” program taught her problem-solving, working with limited materials, and teamwork.<\/p>\n

\"StudentsStudents are Garces Memorial High School pose in front of their cardboard boats ahead of the canoe races. PHOTO: KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

Teacher Jaima Cook, Department Chair of Engineering Path Way, told me the event is a school wide draw and that it\u2019s rewarding to see how different designs perform once they hit the water.<\/p>\n

KBFX<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Cook also shared how interest in the program has grown. The school graduated about seven or eight students from the program her first year, and that number is now up to almost 30, with the potential to exceed 40 next year if students continue.<\/p>\n

Along with the races, Cook said students pushed for a \u201cbattle of the boats\u201d concept after the first year. She said this year\u2019s version will be more intense and tied to fundraising, with three teachers narrowed down to participate. <\/p>\n

\"OneOne of the cardboard boats that will be participating in the competition. This one is “sonic-themed” and some of the cardboard pieces was used at last years Engineering Day. PHOTO: KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

Ag Mechanics and design students built boats for the teachers, and one teacher will get in a boat to take part in the battle. The canoe races are judged by differebt categories Some boats are built for speed, while others, including a pirate-themed boat, are built for durability, and best design.<\/p>\n

Event times mentioned during the broadcast varied. One set of times said judging starts at 10:30 a.m. for costumes and the boat race starts at 11:15 a.m. Another set of times said design judging begins at 10:15 a.m. and races start at 11:45 a.m.<\/p>\n

\"AA fews of the student’s boats that will be participating in the canoe races on Engineering Day at Garces Memorial High School. PHOTO: KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

Cook encouraged students interested in engineering to look for schools that offer Project Lead the Way, saying many do across California, Kern County and the U.S., and that the program provides hands-on knowledge that\u2019s useful beyond engineering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cardboard canoes, costumes and a \u201cbattle of the boats\u201d are drawing students and staff to the water at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-239853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}