Local high school students were at the mall today, but they weren’t skipping class, they were working on a project called canstruction.
At 8:30 on a Monday morning, the University Park Mall is not exactly a bustling place. It’s just mall walkers and window washers, but this Monday there are also a handful of high school STEM classes building things out of cans.
“We’re building the Ti-CAN-ic,” said Jaden Mullet, a student a Clinton Christian High School. He and his classmates are making a sinking ship out of canned goods. Mullet says their ship will be in two pieces just like the real thing, but made entirely out of canned goods.
Mullet’s teacher Joseph Raber said the students came up with the idea on their own, “The theme is at the movies and they wanted to do a boat and they just…‘let’s do the Ti-CAN-ic!’” The students are part of Clinton's applied sciences class.
Once they’re finished, the ship will be at the mall for a week to be judged and voted on, then all the canned goods will be donated to local food banks. Canstruction is an international event. Locally it’s organized by Hope Ministries.
Hannah Moss from Riley High School says the charity aspect is important.“This helps give back to people who are in more need than we are.” Riley's canstruction students are from it's robotics team.
Other schools are creating a sandcastle, a lighthouse and a popcorn box.
All the structures will be at the mall this week. Community members can vote for a ‘people’s-choice’ award by donating a can into a barrel in front of the creation, oronline with virtual can donations.