Forget the Jamaican Bobsled Team, the children at St Wystan’s had an extraordinary experience of Great Britain Bobsleigh team Bob Team Stanbridge visiting their school to talk about all things Bobsleigh.
On the run up to the STEM event the children were asked to colour in a picture of a Bobsled, or to design their own. The standard of the entries were exceptionally high with one student even producing multiple engineering drawings of their proposed sled. John and his teammate Alex, judged the competition. Medals were awarded, bronze, silver, and gold to two age categories. The medals were designed, manufactured and donated by Acres Engineering.
During the event John and Alex explained the explosive push start and how they enter the sled when racing. They also passed around their racing equipment, showed their protective Kevlar jackets and helmets kept them safe, and displayed how the pilot steers the sled on the track.
Luke Parker, Managing Director at Acres Engineering who initiated the event commented “it was fantastic to hear the children gasp in excitement when the bob sled was unveiled and to see how engaged they were during the event. It was a real privilege to help facilitate the event allowing the children to learn all things bob sled. Who knows, we may have created future bobsleigh pilot stars. “
The children showed just how engaged they were with a wide range of questions during the Q&A session. The questions included:
Why is it called a Bobsleigh?
How do you make it fast?
How do two men push the Sled?
How do you not slip over on the ice?
Why are you called a pilot?
How does the sled not fall when it goes up on the sides of the track?
Do you wear special clothes?
How do you push it?
Do you ever get scared?
When’s the next race and where is it?
Do you have a name for your bobsleigh?
Have you ever broken a bone?
John Stanbridge from BOBTEAM STANBRIDGE is also an Aircraft Avionics supervisor in the RAF. He works hard in spare time as a semi-professional athlete.
John commented “It was an amazing experience to display our team sled with the students on St Wystans school. They are a very inquisitive and engaging group of children, I was tremendously impressed by the thought and dedication of their sled designs which it made it really hard for us to choose “
Acres Engineering have been a proud sponsor of BOBTEAM STANBRIDGE designing and manufacturing custom equipment such as training sleds to help them on their journey to their Olympic dream.
If you are interested in hosting your own STEM event, or would like to become a sponsor please contact us on the link below.
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