Many students after they finish their work may scroll on their phones, talk to friends, or even take a nap. Seniors Brian Kendall and Ryan Squire take online classes at Mountain Gateway Community College during their fourth period. Kendall is taking Psychology and Squire is taking AP Computer Science. But unlike most students when they have free time, they build. These two engineers towers with building blocks that look like they define like the laws of physics.

Kendall is taking Psychology, and Squire is taking AP Computer Science as an online class. These two spend their free time during these classes constructing wooden structures. Some creations may look familiar, such as the Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower, and the Tower of Pisa. They build these with Keva planks, wooden blocks made for building elaborate structures. 

“Sometimes the physics behind it makes no sense, and it’s fun to test what you can do without it falling over,” said Kendall. 

One must ask: How can one make these buildings? How do they not fall? The pattern must one use to make these intricate buildings?

“Most of the time, it’s just using a repetitive pattern and stacking it up and occasionally rotating it to make it look cool. If the structure gets really unstable you can balance it by using some blocks as counterweights,” said Kendall.

These two have made many towers, many that tower to be 5 feet tall. They have made architectural wonders known around the world at a small scale. They have taken building blocks and have made masterpieces.

“My favorite is that one that starts as a square with four pillars and expands into a massive funnel. It was a two-day project which was pretty cool. The leaning tower of Pisa was also one that was very fun to build,” said Squire. 

Kendall wishes to study civil engineering in college. Squire hopes to do biomedical engineering. 

“Building with the Keva blocks doesn’t quite translate to the real world but it’s still fun,” said Squire.

As of junior year, Squire was Valedictorian and Kendall being Saluedictroian. You can go see their buildings in the library and will see them more often than not.