Students’ Cardboard Watercraft a Big Splash on Ohio River | News, Sports, Jobs - Wetzel Chronicle

(Photo by Shelley Hanson) Students from Wetzel County and beyond compete in the annual Matthew Barker Boat Races on Oct. 1 on the Ohio River at Paden City’s marina.

PADEN CITY – Many sank, some floated and most all had a splashing good time during the annual Matthew Barker Boat Races held on the Ohio River in Paden City on Oct. 1.

Organized by Paden City High School, the event challenged Wetzel County students and a few schools from outside the county to construct boats that could shove off from the Paden City Park boat ramp, round a blue buoy a few yards away and then make it back to shore.

Crafted with extra thick cardboard and painted black, the boat navigated by St. Mary’s High School students dominated this year’s races and won first place in the high school division.

Paden City High School art teacher Matt Kinnard, organizer of the races, said the event has students incorporate a few different subjects including art, math and science. This year’s theme was 1980s Arcade Games with students decorating their boats with Super Mario, Kong, Tetris, Star Wars and more. Music from the 1980s was played on a speaker during the races.

Kinnard said the races are named after and held in honor of one of his late students who loved to fish and boat.

“He loved to fish … so we built the cardboard boat and he floated it and fished out of it and tested it,” Kinnard said. “He was killed tragically the following summer. So kind of in his honor we took it and ran with it. Because he loved life and he was full of energy.”

Kinnard said the students put their learning to the test while building their boats.

“It teaches all of your art skills with construction and building, but it also teaches math and science because you have to understand how physics and math work together, buoyancy and all the rest of that,” he said. “They have to do the math: how much each person weighs and how much their boat can hold.”

Kinnard said he invited all the art teachers in West Virginia to participate this year. He said the furthest away school to participate was St. Mary’s, which was the overall winner. Also new this year was allowing Wetzel County middle school students to participate.

“The goal is to continue to grow. The marina here, the water is nice and calm; we don’t get all of the pressure from the dam north,” he said.

Kinnard said one of his favorite aspects of the competition is that it incorporates a different way to create and use art.

“My whole career I’ve been teaching art based on careers, not just technique,” he said. “We do everything from stained glass to fusing glass to boat building to furniture building.”

Paden City eighth grade students Maddie Householder and Lilliana Nicely helped design and build their boat for the race. Householder said she was “kind of nervous” about the contest.

“I feel like our boat is a little thin and we’re going to sink a little bit, but it will be OK,” she said.

Nicely said the project also taught the students to work together.

“It’s a good opportunity for teamwork and building skills,” she said, adding there were some arguments, but the students worked them out during the process.

A large crowd of spectators lined the shore and watched from the marina as the students from several schools enjoyed the event. Congratulations were seen from one student to the next.

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