Can duct tape really help float a boat?

Duct tape and cardboard might not sound like a winning recipe for boat-building, but a few Rosehill Elementary students attempted to make successful crafts from those materials. A few lucky (and unlucky) Shawnee Mission School District administrators tested the seaworthy qualities of the boats last week, as they sailed the vessels across the Shawnee Mission South swimming pool.

“We think our boat is going to float because we put a lot of duct tape on it,” said second-grader Heidi Pfeifer before the boats hit the water.

Fellow second-grader Isaac Heinen said he thought his group’s boat would float “because we worked very hard on it.”

For Victoria Olberding, 8, it was all about the building experience.

“I liked being able to put my ideas and creativity into play,” she said.

Three of the six boats tipped on their maiden voyages across the pool, dunking Rosehill principal Cory Strathman and two other district officials in the water. When they took the boats out for another spin in the pool, two more capsized, leaving some soggy but good-spirited educators in their wake.

“I’m willing to do anything for the kids for learning, for excitement,” Strathman said. “The first thing they learned (from this) is that learning can be fun.”

Instructional coach Brandi Leggett said the whole project began as a simple It’reading exercise about boats.

“What started off as something simple got more and more elaborated,” she said.