Press contact: Angela Try

SPRINGFIELD — Area fifth grade students will demonstrate their way to “Move a Car” in an engineering competition as Lincoln Land Community College hosts the 19th annual Springfield Area Engineer in the Classroom, a Rube Goldberg Showcase, on Saturday, March 7. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m. in the Student Union in the lower level of Menard Hall on the LLCC-Springfield campus, 5250 Shepherd Road. There is no admission fee, and the public is invited to attend.

This year’s competition involves building a car that must move 18 inches along a track, including moving up a three-inch hill.

Seventeen classrooms of area fifth graders are currently developing their own unique Rube Goldberg cars for this year’s competition. They receive assistance from engineer volunteers who visit classes and provide instruction on machines and engineering in general, along with suggestions for their Rube Goldberg device. The purpose of this event is to introduce children to the idea of pursuing a career in engineering or a STEM-related field. 

This year, there will be teams participating from the following schools: Ball Chatham, Dubois Elementary, Graham Elementary, Little Flower, Morrisonville Elementary, Our Savior’s Lutheran, Riverton Middle, Rochester Intermediate, Springfield Christian, Trinity Lutheran and Beckemeyer Elementary School in Hillsboro.  

Last year’s task entailed building a Rube Goldberg contraption that would “open a book.” Teresa Wolters fifth grade class from Springfield Christian School, with engineer volunteers, AJ Gabr and Paras Wankhede, took home the top prize locally.