THREE Bendigo primary schools have taken out awards in the inaugural Unboxy Challenge.
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The competition was centred around Unboxy - a cardboard kit of triangles and connectors that allowed students to design their own geometric structures.
Y2 Architecture director Matthew Dwyer said his firm - along with the Bendigo Tech School, La Trobe University, and iEqualsdpluse - came up with the competition to encourage students to work creatively and collaboratively after a year of remote learning.
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There were 18 schools in the Bendigo region who participated in the challenge.
St Joseph's Primary School in Quarry Hill were the overall winners and also took out the visual arts category for their Christmas tree design.
St Peter's Primary School in Bendigo won in the wellbeing category for the way they enhanced their learning space, while Eppalock Primary School took out the engineering category for their 2.36m entry.
Mr Dwyer said he was impressed with the creativity of all of the students.
"Although not everyone won a prize, I would have thought the actual process would have been rewarding for all the schools," he said.
Mr Dwyer said St Joseph's took out the overall award for their impressive pitch video, which was submitted alongside their project.
"They obviously went through a method and a process," he said. "They also linked their project to the sustainability idea and looked at how many trees are lost at Christmas.
"They looked at idea of a recyclable product for Christmas and how it could be sized appropriately within a dwelling. It was a very strong pitch video."
Mr Dwyer said the challenge organisers would look to improve the competition in 2021.
"We will rethink with our staff on how to tackle the challenge next year and make it more exciting," he said.
"We will also think more strategically about the best time to do it so we can encourage as many schools and students to take part."
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