LHS Students Participate in Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

A team of Lynbrook High School ninth-graders participated in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at the Cradle of Aviation on Feb. 8. Captains Jake Gus and Spencer Kaminsky were joined by teammates Nick Christian, Daniyal Jamal, Griffin Kearney, Zachary Lee, Thomas Postiglione, Josh Schaeffer, Jack Sullivan and Kai Weinkauf. Working under the guidance of coach Jon Zaccaro, the team completed this year’s challenge by building a machine that completed as series of 20 different functions to zip a zipper.

“Most of the other teams were made up of juniors and seniors who had been working together for several years,” said coach Zaccaro. “Although the team did not place this year, it is impressive to note that, unlike other teams, they used all recycled materials from their homes to build their machine.”

The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest was created in the spirit of Rube Lucius Goldberg’s wacky illustrations. A Rube Goldberg machine is an overly complex contraption designed to accomplish a simple task. The best Rube Goldberg machines emulate their namesake — using a variety of everyday items in a whimsical way to create a series of chain-reaction steps to accomplish a simple task.