Skip to Content
/ Articles / Community, Environment /

Governor Mifflin students to race hand-made boats in Angelica Creek Regatta

by Berks Nature

May 03, 2019

What: The 2nd Annual Angelica Creek Regatta

When: Saturday, May 4th, 10am- Noon.

Where: The Nature Place, 575 St. Bernardine Street, Reading.

More than a hundred Governor Mifflin students will race their handmade boats down Angelica Creek this Saturday morning during Berks Nature’s second annual Angelica Creek Regatta. Ranging in age from 4th to 6th grade, competing students have spent the past several weeks building their boats in class with Mifflin teachers.

Come Saturday morning, students will race their boats in heats of three down a small stretch of stream directly behind The Nature Place. Boats will be judged on appearance, with medals awarded in the following categories: Fastest, Engineering Design, Creativity and Sustainability. Last year’s inaugural Regatta was the brainchild of the Angelica Creek Watershed Association, a program of Berks Nature.

“The original idea came from the Winnie the Pooh book series (A.A. Milne) where the characters played a game called ‘pooh sticks,’ which involved finding a stick, throwing it on one side of the bridge, then seeing who’s stick came out first on the other side,” said Jill Kemp, Angelica Creek Watershed Association President. “It demonstrates that anything that drops into the stream can often wind up traveling long distances- even to the ocean.”

The takeaway, Kemp added, is to: “Take care of what we put in the stream or even on our lawns and roads because much washes into the waterway during storms. The animals need clean water and so do we. As for the homemade boats, what could be a better way to practice engineering? I can’t wait to see what the students have come up with.”

We need your support!

Your contribution makes community media possible.

A donation of any size to your nonprofit media organization supports the future of media access in our community - the things you love, and the places you care about, by the people you know.

Live Streaming