On November 30th, 2023 Temecula Middle School held its yearly Hawaiian Roll Chunking. Students had time over break to work together with their families to make either a ballista, trebuchet or a catapult and got to present it and test it out in the bus loop for the whole school to see! 

This year, there were 33 entries. Four ballistas, three trebuchets, and twenty-six catapults! These three are not the same, however, as they are very different. Although they are similar they have many differences. For example, a trebuchet uses the advantage of a lever to throw the item, while catapults use torsion or tension to throw a projectile, ballistas also use torsion to throw a shot. 

This year’s competition was jam-packed with a ton of competitors and all did well! But the top ten did outstanding!

Parker Flora, number 10

Izabella H who was top 10 in 6th grade and managed to be in top 10 again in 8th landing at number 9 overall!

Mason Roberts is at number 8 followed by

Sabrina Simcik is in 7th overall and has been top ten two years in a row!

Miles Tiemann landed in 6th with the best 6th-grade catapult.

Evan Buensaceso was 5th overall with the best 8th grade catapult who was top ten in 6th grade and again in 8th grade.

Mason Smith was 4th overall and was the best 8th grader who even broke his record for 3rd best trebuchet launch in TMS history.

Jamal Dost was 3rd overall with the best ballista.

Cambryn Melton was second overall with the best catapult and had the best 7th-grade performance (she was 2nd place 2 years in a row!)

Ryan Lightenberg came in first place with the best trebuchet, best 6th grader, and is a new record holder for the furthest trebuchet launch in TMS history!!

In the end, everyone did awesome and did their best. Most people enjoyed watching everyone try out their projects!