Pumpkin Pitching ~ STEAM and O&G Blend
by Mackenzie Bollinger, Cosmetology Class of 2025
The cool air seems so much colder from atop the oil rig we have here at the LCCTC. No matter how loud it is at ground level, from 40 feet above, everything seems peaceful and quiet. With a gentle wind, quietly whistling across the park trees below, when you’re looking down at the scene below, you’re able to see the roof of almost the entire school, and it makes you realize just how vast this building actually is. Now, imagine looking over the edge as the dense, orange, spherical gourd you cradle in your hands is released to the 6x6 blue tarp below. It only takes a few seconds for it to fall, slowly turning until, “SPLAT!” – it meets the ground with a thud, bursting open, exploding seeds that shoot out from all sides. It’s a feeling like no other.
The second pumpkin-throwing event happened on November 3rd, and, as an Eagle Journalist, I was lucky enough to not only witness it; I was lucky enough to participate in it! This is an event where students in Mr. Parson’s Oil and Gas shop combine with Mrs. Brown’s STEAM students to throw pumpkins, donated for the event, from the top of our oil rig. The main purpose of the lesson was to provide a hands-on example for future lessons about Newton’s laws, gravity, and friction.
After being hooked into a harness, connected to a safety pulley, and given a safety lesson, STEAM students, who would normally never have this opportunity to climb an oil rig, volunteer to climb to the crown, the platform at the top of the rig. Next, pumpkins are hoisted to the top of the rig using a bucket and pully system – the same type of system that carries important tools to the top. Students then take turns throwing pumpkins from the crown and onto a tarp with a target on the ground below.
According to Mr. Parsons, Oil and Gas instructor at LCCTC, “‘Little Billy’ is the only oil rig in a Career and Technical Center in the entire United States.” The oil rig, named after an experienced saltwater driller from Tarentum, PA who helped build and operate the first oil rig in 1891, was built by LCCTC students 5 years ago and has been used almost every day since. It stands at 40 ft tall and at least 20 students have been working on and around the rig. There is, however, a limit of 5 people allowed to be on the crown at one time. This is because the space on the crown is not very wide, and, in the spirit of “safety first”, there are only five clips that attach to the safety harnesses.
As on-the-spot reporters and non-Oil & Gas program students, my assistant, Nadine Aquino (Restaurant Trades), and I (Cosmetology) were lucky enough to be invited to climb the rig. While nervously putting on the harness and climbing the rig, we were comforted by students who had climbed to the top as they assured us how thrilling it would be.
Before we could start our climb up the cold steel rungs of the student-built ladder, we were first educated on the equipment that would act as a safety line while we were climbing up the ladder. O & G students assisted us with correctly putting on our harnesses Once we reached the top of the rig, another student helped to hook us onto large, permanent safety hooks on the platform before unhooking us from the safety climbing pulley. Though it seemed a little “overkill”, this was to ensure our safety “just in case” something were to happen. Other than trusting the equipment and students, the only other thing we had to worry about was clinging onto the ladder while climbing and being patient with the students while they assisted us.
Once at the top of the rig, we took turns throwing the pumpkins; our challenge was trying to see how close we could get to the target. When we watched from the ground, it seemed a pretty easy task, but now that we were 40 feet up, it seemed terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
One moment that made me chuckle at the top was when Nadine joked, “What goes up doesn’t always come down in one piece.”
Going up didn’t seem easy, but coming down was even more nerve-wracking.
Trying to avoid getting overwhelmed and dizzy, I descended step by step. “Just don’t look down,” I told myself, but finding the next step below was nerve-wracking, and unfortunately, I felt myself peering at the tiny people on the ground below. My cheeks felt like they were on fire from the chill and my fingers were numb as each steel rung of the ladder felt like it was covered in needles.
Once back on solid ground, Nadine gushed, “I can’t believe I got to climb an oil rig, and – oh my gosh – I even liked chucking the pumpkins over the side!”
However, each rung of this feat wasn’t all without its struggle for me. I must admit that it did make me a little nervous after a fellow student teased me saying, ‘Well – this WAS built by a bunch of 14-year-olds’.” Luckily, I was smart enough to ignore the good-hearted teasing, know that the jeer was only partially true – it WAS built by O & G students but not 14-year-olds, and trust Mr. Parsons. I knew that he wouldn’t send me up there if it wasn’t safe.
Even our school principal, Mrs. Ciazza, climbed the oil rig to participate. She shared with me after the event, “It was spectacular to be a guest on the top of the Oil & Gas rig and to take part in the STEAM class experiments on a beautiful Friday.
“Watching the students blending their academic studies with different vocational classrooms is always really exciting to observe,” she shares, “and I look forward to many more collaborations!”
When I woke up this morning, I never would have thought I’d be standing at the top of an oil rig pitching pumpkins to a target below, but now I can say, “I did it!” This activity was a rare experience, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to join in on the fun. Next year, I hope to be a part of this event and events like it again.
