EDGECOMB — Center for Teaching and Learning teacher Glenn Powers learned recently that he and his class will receive a $1,700 grant from the Toshiba America Foundation in support of its “Building Bridges” project.

The fifth- and sixth-graders will conduct an in-depth study of bridge design and mechanics using K’nex Bridge building kits and balsa wood modeling, along with West Point Bridge design contest software for load analysis, which will lead to the construction of a 15-foot bridge on the school’s nature trail.

A news release notes that “Powers’ students will learn how and why bridges stay up and will present the school with five possible bridge designs for the nature trail, following a set of criteria, complete with feasibility studies, cost analysis, and structural analysis, from which one design will be chosen.”

The goal is for the bridge to be built on the school’s nature trail with parent volunteers and donated materials.