Students and teachers assemble a wooden structure on the grass outside a high school.

“I think it’s really great to see the lightbulbs go off, and to see kids have confidence in the thing that they just did.”

Follow Trevor Stewart’s engineering class as students progress from making working models in class to constructing a full-size trebuchet capable of launching pumpkins 350 feet across On Track Academy’s campus.

Solving differential equations, product design, project management, tool knowledge – the list goes on of skills and experience that students will take with them as they imagine what to create next.


The monthslong interactive project was supported by a variety of community partners, including NEWTech Prep welding instructors and students; SPS facilities staff; Northwest Steel Fab, which donated steel plates for the weights; and Haskins Steel for donating materials for the pivot support.