Middle Level Students Reach New Heights in "Tower of Power" Engineering Challenge

This winter, Notre Dame Prep’s Middle Level students proved that world-class engineering can start with a box of pasta. To celebrate National Engineers Week, the Blazers took on the Tower of Power in a Half Hour: A Middle School National Engineering Week Challenge, culminating in an elite, high-stakes showdown at the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering.

The journey began on campus on January 12, when teams of middle schoolers put their structural engineering and rapid-prototyping skills to the ultimate test. Armed with only a single box of spaghetti and one bag of marshmallows, the students raced against a strict 30-minute clock to construct the tallest freestanding tower possible.

This fierce internal competition served as the gateway to the official "Tower of Power" event hosted at the JHU Homewood Campus on February 24. Out of the greater Baltimore area, JHU invited just 25 teams to compete—a highly competitive roster that included JHU undergraduate students, alumni, and engineering faculty. Notre Dame Prep delivered a dominant showing. Of the ten spots allocated to local middle schools, NDP was the only school in Baltimore County to advance two teams to the finals.

Representing the Blazers on the university stage were 7th graders Julia S., Reese B., and Brynn W., alongside 8th graders Grace M., Genevieve T., and Ellie K. Hosted by JHU engineering seniors and the Society of Women Engineers, the finals required the girls to showcase immense creativity and teamwork under pressure. By successfully designing and building their unique structures alongside collegiate mentors and faculty, the students proudly represented the future of women in STEAM.