NC West Virginia News

Over 1,000 K-12 students participated in the 35th annual Pumpkin Drop at West Virginia University, organized by the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. The event, held on October 25, included 242 teams from 58 schools across West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Of the pumpkins dropped from the roof of the Engineering Sciences Building, only 30 survived the fall.

The competition required teams to design a protective enclosure for a pumpkin with a minimum diameter of 10 inches and a maximum weight of 50 pounds. Team 3 from Connellsville High School secured first place by landing their intact pumpkin one foot from the target. Second place went to Team 102 from Taylor County Middle School with a distance of one foot, nine inches. For the first time in history, two teams tied for third place: Team 15 from Tyler Consolidated Middle School and Team 154 from Covenant Christian School, both achieving a distance of two feet, two inches.

Jason Gross, professor and department chair of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE), expressed his enthusiasm: “I really love seeing our students interacting with some of these young minds to show them how cool engineering can be.”

Amelia Mullens, a science teacher at Barrackville Elementary Middle School in Marion County, brought her STEM team to participate after returning post-pandemic. She noted that visiting college campuses is beneficial for students as it allows them to envision themselves in such environments. Mullens emphasized independent learning and experimentation during preparation for the Pumpkin Drop.

“They’ve learned a lot from watching each other and they’ve already started talking about what they’re going to try next year,” Mullens said.

This year's event also included contributions from the College of Creative Arts and Media and Lane Innovation Hub, incorporating arts into STEAM education. Junior theatre design major Daney Brookover designed the Pumpkin Drop target while art education major Peyton Raffel painted it. Fundraising t-shirts were created by art majors Paige Burger and Lizzy Sikora.

Proceeds from this year's event will benefit the Ronald McDonald House in Morgantown.