On Friday, physics students at the Altoona Area High School competed for scholarships.
The students win that money by completing engineering challenges instead of essays or speeches.
This year, the students had to build towers with tooth picks and fruit snacks and create a crane arm that could lift heavy objects.
One physics teacher said one reason they’re so exicted for the new Altoona Area High School building to be finished in the 2020-2021 school year is they’ll be able to expand their engineering classes.
“We’re just trying to improve our offerings to students in the engineering fields because that’s where a lot of the best job opportunities are and when our new school is done being built, we’ll be able to offer even a lot more options to them, so we’re excited about that and looking forward to that,” David Borst said.
One of those student-made crane arms held over 100 pounds.