Houston High, Central Mat-Su Fire collaborate on 2nd annual ‘Egg Drop Contest’

HOUSTON — Houston High School was honored last week to have the Central Mat-Su Fire Department Battalion Chief Kirk Gibbs and Paramedic Nick Cooley support the school’s second annual “Egg Drop Contest.”

Gibbs and Cooley brought in a 100-foot aerial platform truck, and helped drop eggs that were encased in protective devices engineered by Houston High students.

The fire department dropped the projects from 75 feet in the air, using an aerial truck, while the students stood by eagerly to see if their egg survived.

Science teachers defined requirements for the project. The students could not exceed 25-centimeter-cubed in size, and they could not use foam, bubble wrap, or any store bought projects to help protect their eggs. Students had to answer reflective questions about why their projects were or were not successful.

“I could have made my project better by adding more weight to the bottom,” Houston student Walker Stephens said. “I noticed the other students [projects]. If their project was light, it would twist around so I figured you need to add weight to the bottom to keep it down.”

The students at Houston said they enjoyed the egg drop project, and the fire department taking their time to come to their school.

Gibbs and Cooley say that they typically don’t go to schools for such projects, they are usually visiting schools for fire safety awareness.

Houston High School is very lucky to have the Central Mat-Su Fire Department visit and help them with their Houston High School unique projects.

A big thank you also goes out to the community for access to resources such as the fire department, and Houston City Council woman Kathleen Barney who was the school’s liaison for the project for Houston science teachers Colby Wolfer and Steven Hall.

Kali Carroll is a ninth-grader at Houston High School.