Since this is the first year that AP-level physics has been taught at A.C. Jones High School, there has not been a need for the more advanced lab equipment before now.

Recently, the class was in need of some force tables to conduct an experiment for the class.

After looking through the science education catalogs, the class members determined that it would cost about $450 to get three of the cheapest force tables they needed to conduct their experiment.

The physics classmates decided not to purchase the tables. Instead, they would build them. The students, Ellen Addison, A.J. Arredondo, Kevin Dang, Felix Koesters, Laine Luthringer, Jonathan Schwindt, Melody Shane, Chet Sparks, Lloyd Sutherland and Caleb Traylor got to work.

Three days later, the physics class members had three new force tables that they used to conduct their experiment on Friday. They also will be used in the physics classes for years to come.

The only item that was purchased was a $7 piece of hardboard. Pulleys were scrounged from an old box in a back cabinet. Five-gallon buckets became the stands for the table. Plastic washers became the aiming devices.

“The students did an excellent job and this is a win-win-win situation for the students, for the school and for the district,” said Benjamin Barris, their physics instructor.

“The students got to learn while making the tables, the school now has new lab equipment and the district saved some money that went to other vital supplies, such as the calculators that were just purchased for the physics class that students used in making their calculations for this experiment.”