Egg

Jul 17, 2023

On their last day of 5th to 6th Grade Move Up Week camp on Thursday, about 50 rising sixth-graders built contraptions to cradle and protect an egg that was then tossed from the roof by a staff member of O’Maley Innovation Middle School on Cherry Street.

The students counted down from 10 before their egg contraptions were tossed from the roof. One contraption cushioned by balloons floated from the roof only to have a balloon pop on impact. The students then scrambled (no pun intended) to see if the egg made it intact.

Last week, about 50 rising sixth-graders took part in the camp program designed to show students what it’s like to be a student at the middle school. Another 50 took part in the camp program this week.

Besides creating ways to protect an egg tossed off a two-story brick school building, the students got to tour the school, meet future classmates and teachers, and learn about what it means to be an O’Maley student, said Beckie Mastandrea, who runs the O’Maley Academy Summer Camp with its various programs. It was also a time for the elementary pupils who come from various neighborhood schools to get to make new friends.

The finale for both weeks was the egg-drop competition, with Mark Mastrandrea heading up onto the O’Maley roof to toss the eggs down on Thursday.

“It’s kind of like an intro point of the many hands-on activities that they will be doing” at O’Maley, Beckie Mastandrea said.

Cameron Powers, 12, Jemma Moores, 11, and Carolyn Karabaic, 11, spoke about the egg-drop competition.

“So we are going to be dropping the egg that we had to make sure that they are all safe, so lots of people brought in their own supplies,” Karabaic said.

“So we have strings, bubble wrap, balloons, straws …, ” Moores said.

“Straws, tape, everything really,” Powers added.

Moores said they used bubble wrap, tape and a parachute to cushion their egg’s fall. It landed with a crashing sound.

“I went to place it down on the table and I kind of smooshed it,” Powers said of the straws he put around the egg. He said the straws bent and he was concerned the egg might crack.

“It’s going to be fun,” he said about going to O’Maley in the fall.

“I really liked it,” said Karabaic of the move-up week. “It was a really fun program for me.”

She said she and Brooke Marr protected their egg with a container, bubble wrap, cotton balls and foam pieces.

Turns out, it was announced, most of the eggs survived.

Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714,or at [email protected].

Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714,or at [email protected].

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