Sedona-Oak Creek School District students floating through class6 min read

Fifth-grader Calin Christopher holds two blowers in his hands, forcing him to spin, while riding on a hovercraft at West Sedona School on Friday, April 26. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

The Sedona-Oak Creek School District’s fifth and sixth-graders filled the gym at West Sedona School with noise on Friday, April 26, as the Hovercraft Project spent the day teaching students how to build and subsequently ride a hovercraft while learning math skills and team building. The Hovercraft Project was founded in 2019.

Sophia Rosales and Angelo Carvajal ride across the West Sedona School gym on hovercrafts that they built on Friday, April 26.
David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

“We travel as a family; we’re the only ones who do this in the whole world,” COO Jenni Chase said, describing their Sarasota, Fla.-based family business. “We serve about 120 schools a year; this is the first time we’ve been in Arizona.”

Fifth-graders react to third wind power of 4 blowers during a demonstration for the Hovercraft Project at West Sedona School on Friday, April 26. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

“My husband [Matt Chase] used to be a fifth and sixth-grade math and science teacher, and he decided that kids work best in project-based environments,” she said. “He was working on a friction unit in his science class, and the kids brought in an idea of a hovercraft. And so they started working on it, and he realized that they were learning more than just about friction, they were learning about teamwork and following directions and just learning things on their own without even having to be given instructions.”

Ashley Aleman rides across the West Sedona School gym on a self propelled hovercraft on Friday, April 26. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

The first part of the afternoon consisted of two hours of doing the calculations for the hovercraft skirts and cutting them to attach to the leaf blowers. Students had to work in teams and elect a leader.

Sedona Oak Creek School District sixth and fifth graders ride across the West Sedona School gym on hovercrafts that they built on Friday, April 26. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

“Matt tells the team leaders what to do, and the team leaders are supposed to get that information to their teams,” Chase said. “So they learn how to work together as a team and solve the problems as they go.”

Scorpion Booster Club President Heather Hermen and fifth grade teacher Alicia Pallares are pushed across the West Sedona School gym on hovercrafts built by fifth graders on Friday, April 26.
David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers
Fifth-grader Emma Rabago rides across the West Sedona School gym on a hovercraft on Friday, April 26. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

The afternoon ended with a competition among the different teams and between the grades and the fifth-graders ended up winning on a technicality. One of the safety rules was that each hovercraft could get a starting push at the beginning of a run but the pushers had to keep their feet planted.

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“The sixth grade thought they won because they got farther, but they had the pushers move their feet, which got them eliminated,” Chase said. “It’s fun in situations like that because the underdogs have won.”

The cost of the Hovercraft Project day was about $4,000, which was funded by the Scorpion Booster Club through their annual Casino Night Fundraiser that this year set a new record by raising $50,000 in February.

“There’s a big STEM focus at West Sedona School,” club President Heather Hermen said. “But the reason why we thought it would be good for the kids is [because] the fifth-graders are going to be going up to the junior high, and they’re going to be the little kids on campus. Why not get them in with the sixth-graders and do team-building to get them familiar with each other? … And the Hovercraft Project also addresses some things that are of concern in the schools. Each principal provided some things that they wanted the hovercraft team to work on. So they [focused] on school attendance, talking about bullying, being prepared for class and working together as a team.”

“One of the things that teachers said was that the sixth-graders especially have not even touched their cell phones,” WSS Principal Elizabeth Tavasci said. “They haven’t even taken them out of their backpacks. They’re so engaged in doing the project with their peers that they’ve just completely forgotten that part and are just having fun and learning.”

Sophia Rosales and Angelo Carvajal ride across the West Sedona School gym on hovercrafts that they built on Friday, April 26. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

“We’ve been focused on growing community partnerships,” Tavasci added. “Our main community partner has been the [U.S.] Forest Service. They have really helped us to expand our network of people that we connect to. The Forest Service and Friends of the Forest helped us to put together community partners across the Sedona area that would align with each of our grade levels.

Fifth-grader Genesis Herrera holds two blowers in her hands forcing her to spin on a hovercraft at West Sedona School on Friday, April 26. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

“The students have had these rich experiences of taking trips out to Beaver Creek and doing water sampling and water testing and water filtration or learning about pollinators and native seeds, and we recently had the Sedona Fire District come in to also help teach STEM principles.”

Joseph K Giddens

Joseph K. Giddens grew up in southern Arizona and studied natural resources at the University of Arizona. He later joined the National Park Service in many different roles focusing on geoscience throughout the West. Drawn to deep time and ancient landscapes he’s worked at: Dinosaur National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Badlands National Park and Saguaro National Park among several other public land sites. Prior to joining Sedona Red Rock News, he worked for several Tucson outlets as well as the Williams-Grand Canyon News and the Navajo-Hopi Observer. He frequently is reading historic issues of the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper and daydreaming about rockhounding. Contact him at jgiddens@larsonnewspapers.com or (928) 282-7795 ext. 122.

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Joseph K. Giddens grew up in southern Arizona and studied natural resources at the University of Arizona. He later joined the National Park Service in many different roles focusing on geoscience throughout the West. Drawn to deep time and ancient landscapes he’s worked at: Dinosaur National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Badlands National Park and Saguaro National Park among several other public land sites. Prior to joining Sedona Red Rock News, he worked for several Tucson outlets as well as the Williams-Grand Canyon News and the Navajo-Hopi Observer. He frequently is reading historic issues of the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper and daydreaming about rockhounding. Contact him at jgiddens@larsonnewspapers.com or (928) 282-7795 ext. 122.