Hathaway Elementary School students use machines to collect Valentine’s cards

Washougal — Students in Andrew Schlauch’s fifth-grade class at Hathaway Elementary School showed their love of simple machines leading to Valentine’s Day by creating boxes to collect classroom cards. The students used pulleys, wedges, screws, levers, wheels and ramps in the design of their card box. Each student’s box had to use at least two simple machines and be sturdy enough to make the trip home. “The students face real engineering problems with this project,” Schlauch said in a release from the district. “They have to be creative thinkers to solve problems they encounter between design and construction.”