St. Agnes STEM Students Win at Canstruction Competition While Supporting the Community

Our St. Agnes Academy STEM students showed off their engineering skills at this year’s Canstruction competition held on March 22. The SAA Canstruction team won the top award-Juror's Favorite-for the third year in a row at the annual event held at the University of Memphis. This year, the team also won awards for Best Use of Labels and Best Meal.

Canstruction, which is sponsored by the West Tennessee Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers, is unique in that it incorporates fundamental STEAM principles-Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics-while teaching the concepts of teamwork, brainstorming and community service. In the competition, teams are charged with building creative themed designs with non-perishable cans of food, benefiting the Mid-South Food Bank.

The theme for this year’s competition was Technology & Innovation: The Evolution of Transportation. SAA Canstruction team members decided to honor the work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with their build entitled Transportation of Hope. They described their build as follows:

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is in the heart of Memphis. Danny Thomas founded St. Jude because “no child should die in the dawn of life”; this is why our structure is called “Transportation of Hope.” It represents how St. Jude gives hope to patients, families, and even the global community. St. Jude saves the lives of children around the world by treating patients “no matter their race,” “creed,” “finances,” and “no matter where they happened to live.” The hospital may arrange air travel if a patient lives more than 300 miles from St. Jude. Fiber optics can transmit data at highly efficient speeds across the globe, resulting in timely communication and reduced risk of miscommunication. Fiber Optics is replacing traditional copper wiring, which gives aircrafts reduced weight and complexity. Overall, fiber optics has emerged as an innovative tool in aircraft navigation and contributes to the evolution of transportation, as depicted in our design.

Congratulations to all the participants in this year’s challenge: Clara Bolden, Mia Cortez, Marbella Hernandez, Abigail Henninger, Sarah Juarez, Dalyn Nguyen, Grace Reece, Sofia Rojas, Liza Russ, and Lilliana Vescovo. Not only did they make us proud at the competition, but they also donated 2300 cans to support those in need in the Memphis community.