Deliver the Dragons

Our school is blessed to be able to participate in the EITC (Engineer in the Classroom) award winning educational program! This amazing program culminates at the local level in Sangamon County each year with the Annual Rube Goldberg competition. At this competition (which was held on this past Saturday, February the 24th) 12 5th grade teams, along with their volunteer engineers and classroom teachers, show up to present the learning that took place over the previous 10 or so weeks of Engineers in the Classroom. By the time of this competition, the students have learned what engineers are and most importantly, what engineers do! The best part is that the kiddos have come together in their classrooms as teams of engineers communicating, collaborating, critically thinking, and creating together! The students present their very own student visioned, designed, planned, researched, and completed Rube Goldberg machines. This year's challenge was to create an object that would orbit another object at least 3 times! All three 5th grade classes at Dubois Elementary in Springfield, Illinois were able to compete this year and all three classes walked away with awards!!!

This is where your generosity comes into play...

We want to send our kiddos to Champaign, Illinois on Friday March the 9th to experience the EOH (Engineering Open House) so that they might experience the true depth of what they have just accomplished on the grandest of stages offered for their age and achievements! 

We have approximately 75 students (plus teachers, engineers, and parent chaperones for a total of more than 90 people to transport) from Springfield to Champaign. Our bus company seems to have run fresh out of options for us on that specific day and the cost of securing a charter bus is extremely high. In order for us to secure two busses (each with a 55 passenger limit) we would need to raise more than $3100.00! 

This is a worthy cause to deliver an amazing educational opportunity for our Dubois Dragons. Please consider helping to "Deliver the Dragons" to Champaign!

My class will be competing against 14 other 5th grade classes from around the state for an opportunity to win 1st place in the state Rube Goldberg competition to be held on this day in Champaign. Along with my two colleagues and their classes, our Dragons will gain knowledge and experience that will truly be valuable for a lifetime!