March 9, 2015

Through their ingenuity and team work, the team from Chelmsford École Alliance St-Joseph claimed the bronze medal at the Elementary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races competition held on March 4 in Waterloo. No less than 28 teams from all parts of the province took part in this competition during which students were challenged to build quickly a water-resistant cardboard boat. With this third place finish, which follows a gold medal performance in January at the North-Eastern Regional Elementary Cardboard Boat Race competition, Alliance St-Joseph has become a force in cardboard boat racing.

During the provincial competition, students had two hours to build and decorate their boat. As building material, they were supplied two sheets of cardboard, glue and a roll of duct tape. The students Adam Dionne, Andrew Gauthier, Marc Mantha and Skyler LeDrew rose to the challenge. Their vessel completed the 25 metre race in 20.5 seconds and supported a load of 547 pounds. During this competition, the students were interviewed by CBC’s Rick Mercer who will present a segment of the competition on the Rick Mercer Report to be aired on March 24 on CBC.

“The students were successful in building a boat that could compete with the quickest and while supporting a huge load. They also selected two quick and synchronized rowers for the speed test,” explained Mrs. Pascale Drouin, teacher at École Alliance St-Joseph. 

Teams from École Ste-Marie (Azilda) and École Saint-Joseph (Wawa) also competed in the Elementary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races while students from Blind River’s École secondaire catholique Jeunesse-Nord competed at the Secondary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races.

The competition, held by Skills Canada, required each four-student team to design and build a boat. Students were judged on the design and construction quality of their boats, teamwork, organization, security, creativity, team spirit as well as the speed and resistance of their vessels. In addition to seeing the performance of their cardboard boats measured on water over a distance of 25 metres, the teams took part in a load challenge to determine how long their boats could carry a maximum number of team-mates without sinking.

The Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario offers a French Catholic Educational Program that is widely recognized for its excellence. The CSCNO provides a quality academic program that runs from early childhood to adult education, with some 7,000 students in 27 elementary and 10 secondary schools.

INFO:              

Paul de la Riva
Communications and Community Development Coordinator
Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario
(705) 673-5626, ext. 294
(705) 677-8195 – cell phone