SCHOOL CHALLENGE Pupils learn in competition

A Boardman team solved problems through hard work.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dan Bloomberg climbed into bed at 5 a.m. Saturday not knowing if "The Rustinator" would work.
Other members of the Junkyard Jammers were equally unsure.
The Boardman High School sophomores had worked through the night rewiring and fine-tuning their three-wheel driving machine to compete in Destination Imagination, a creative problem-solving competition held at Youngstown State University this weekend. The event drew elementary, middle and high school pupils from Ashtabula, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Weeks of building
The Junkyard Jammers' all-nighter was the culmination of weeks of work in building the vehicle that included pieces of old bicycle frames, steel rods, angle iron and piano hinges.
The Rustinator sat on two rear wheelbarrow wheels, with a soapbox derby wheel in front. It was belt-driven -- combustion engines were not permitted -- and ran on an electric scooter motor powered by a battery and a battery charger.
The mangled steering wheel was from an old Cadillac; the frame was welded together.
The plaid driving seat was secured by duct tape.
"It had worked beautiful at 11 p.m. [Friday], and then we ran it one time and burned out the wiring and switches at midnight," Bloomberg said. "We rewired the right side and started it, but didn't drive it.
"If it was going to break, it would break on the track."
The moment of truth arrived Saturday morning when team driver Steve Dolasinski turned the key. The Rustinator started and he began driving laps on a gymnasium floor inside the Beeghly Center. His six teammates performed a skit as part of the competition requirements.
The team earned points for the number of laps completed within eight minutes. Switching drivers, replacing the front wheel and maneuvering around detours were worth additional points.
Happy ending
Eventually, after fan belts fell off, various parts heated up, a weld broke off a wheel and Dolasinski lurched the machine toward the finish line, The Rustinator died.
Still, team members were all smiles afterward. And so were their parents, who were not allowed to help in any way.
"It went better than expected," said Solomon Lu. "I know it looked terrible with things popping off and smoke coming out of the motor, but we see it as a major success. We got to compete, and it moved relatively well."
Aside from the competition, team members said there were more valuable lessons learned from the experience: teamwork, persistence, organization. In working on the vehicle, they tried to fit the tasks to the skills of different team members.
The work intensified in recent weeks. In the last week, the team spent an average of eight hours a day on the vehicle, which one team member described as a box with three wheels.
"You learn to manage your time and work collaboratively," said team member Vinny Travee. "It's something you take with you."
Budget limit
In the main challenge, the team could not spend more than $175 in building the vehicle. Their budget came in $30 less, which earned them points.
"The reason we were well under budget is because we used eBay to get a lot of parts that aren't normally stocked in stores," Lu said.
They also raided a friend's shed, which apparently hadn't been opened for years.
"Essentially, they built this from scratch with a very limited amount of dollars," said Frank D'Apolito, whose son, Mark, was on the team. "They contained costs, used teamwork and developed an end-product."
Other team members were Greg Cusano and Casey Hyland. All of the team members, except for Hyland, had competed before in Destination Imagination.
The competition is divided into two parts: the main challenge, with a problem-solving task the pupils have been working on for months, and an instant challenge, which is a problem they are given the day of the competition.
Teams get a maximum of 400 points -- 300 for the main challenge and 100 for the instant challenge. Winners were to be announced at a program Saturday night.
The winners will advance to the state competition in April. The Global Finals will be held in May at the University of Tennessee.