At Bruce McLaren Intermediate, woodwork teacher Geoff Emmitt has a knack for turning old materials into exciting new projects. Geoff is a semi-retired classroom teacher who has spent nearly six years in the school’s woodwork room, and in all that time, he’s hardly ever had to buy timber. Instead, he’s built a network of local businesses who pass on leftover plywood and panel products that would otherwise go to waste.
Geoff loves showing students how everyday materials can be reused in clever ways. So when he came up with the idea for students to create gumball machines, he went hunting for untreated timber – something safe to use with food.
“As soon as you’ve got food products in them, you don’t want treated timber, and you can’t use MDF because that’s full of all sorts,” he explains.
He tried a few places with no luck. Then, by chance, he spotted some pallets on the side of the road. They had strong, chunky pieces of wood that were perfect for the candy dispenser’s corner posts.
Around the same time, Auckland Business Development Manager Megan Miles reached out to the school. She knew that schools often look for reusable materials, and she had just learned that Slade Health had a stack of pallets they didn’t need.
The principal forwarded her message to Geoff, who couldn’t believe the timing.
“I said I’d come and have a look, and they turned out to be the same pallets I had been looking at,” Geoff laughs.
A bit of research confirmed that pallet timber is heat treated, not chemically treated, so it was safe for the project. Geoff cut them down to size, and from there, the students took over to create their robot gumball machines.
The design features a jar on top that holds the gumballs, and when the handle is turned, a gumball rolls down through the robot’s mouth. Geoff created four variations for students to choose from, and the project quickly became a favourite.
“They were very excited about it,” he says.
The pallets solved a problem for both Slade Health and the school. Slade Health had stacks of pallets they didn’t know what to do with, and Bruce McLaren students gained a fun, hands-on project using recycled materials.
“Most people just get rid of them, but there’s a lot of people out there who like to reuse them,” Geoff says.
Thanks to Megan’s connection between Slade Health and Bruce McLaren Intermediate (and a few spare wooden pallets) students got to create something fun and clever. And judging by the creations in the workshop, those pallets couldn’t have found a better second life.
