Worawora SHS Students Build Solar-Powered Fountain

…Seek Govt, Investors’ Support

The introduction of Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) at the secondary cycles appears to be yielding great results, after students at the Worawora Senior High School (SHS) in the Oti Region built a solar-powered multipurpose fountain, having been taking through the programme.

The beautiful piece of work, located in the school, according to the students and their engineer facilitator, Teacher Aboagye, is the first of its kind in the Oti Region and in Ghana generally.

The edifice, said to be first of its kind, was built through a collaborative effort of students from the Science and Visual Arts classes, using materials, such as stones, bamboo, sun radiant energy, solar panel, cement and plastic pipes.

According to the students, they manufactured the fountain through the application of “Centrifugal force,” often used by scientists.

The leader of the Visual Arts team, Carl Asamoah, said everything was done by them, and while they bought some of the materials, others were secured free of charge.

“We just used stones and cement to put them together with the help of our science teacher. We got those [stones] from the mountains [over there],” Asamoah said, during a brief demonstration.

He continued, “We started by laying the foundation, using the big stones, and after laying the big stones, we cemented to hold the big stones together and then we allowed it to dry and then we did this concrete, the big one over here, it’s called the slam.”

“When we did all that, we decorated with the peddles, that is the small stones…… after decorating with it, we made flower vases on top of it and then we made pots on these steps that you see here; so the fountain is over here at the top which follows from the top and passes this way…….we painted it ourselves. As for the pipes, we bought them, but the bamboos, it is in our natural environment so we just got them, put them together to form something beautiful,” one of the Visual Arts students, Carl Asamoah, said while demonstrating it.”

Another student who is offering science also gave more insight, saying “So as you power the motor, it rotates the tempo in the motor to pump water and as it moves in a circular motion, it forces the water out and with this idea, we were able to come with the idea, a mountain fountain.”

Sponsorship

The brilliant students, in a video shared on Facebook by one “Goshers” and sighted by The Anchor, called on government, as well as investors, to invest in them so they can replicate their works across the country and beyond.

The students, who are receiving accolades and applauses for their efforts, mentioned specially, the education minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, who, they say, has never visited them to come over and learn at first hand the beautiful things that are happening at the school.

“We know the Education Minister has never visited Worawora Senior High School before, so we want to use this opportunity to invite him to come to Worawora School to see the marvelous things that Worawora Senior High School students are doing here so that he comes and invests in us.

“Right now, we need investors, people who can invest so that we can carry this project at large scale. We need the government to come to our aid so that we want to build upon this project at various places and even across the country,” one of the students said.

Asked if they can replicate the fountain and make similar pieces for the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the seat of government, the Jubilee House, the students, who said they are open for change, responded in the affirmative.

With excitement, they said they are set to build more of the fountains in different shapes for anyone that is interested.

“We can build this, we can build whatever designs you want. We can build it with the help of our form and then solar panel, we can build it for you. It is not a problem at all. We are in for change. We can do this for Oti Region, it means we can do it everywhere across the nation. We learnt it from the classrooms and we applied it for real life solution,” they said.

STEM Education

On his part, Teacher Aboagye, as he is affectionately called, said that, as an engineer, he had to quit his lucrative job to assist in the STEM programme to impart knowledge. According to the facilitator, his job does not only keep him at Worawora SHS, but the entire Oti Region.

“I was an engineer at Supertech Technology, one of the biggest IT companies, as a network engineer, I became a regional engineer and now because of STEM education I quit my job, I left my car, my house, my everything, the best opportunities, and I am here with the kids, helping them.

“I am a facilitator helping the schools not only here but most of the cases I am here at Worawora and the entire Oti Region,” he explained.

He said he has been in the region for one and half years, and noted it takes about six months to educate the students to be able to build the fountain.

He said his job is not difficult because all he does is to get the students to interpret what they learn in class practically.

“It took six months on occasion because they are already studying these things. My assignment is to help the students to interpret all this science they study to real life solution. I will just help them because they are studying them already,” he said, in conclusion.

Source: Anchorghana.com