2018 GMVS Peaks Magazine

New teacher, new classes,
innovative approaches
Science brought to life, at GMVS
When our new science and math teacher, Dave Beningson, told us his high school nickname was
“Gumby,” we knew there was a bit of serendipity at play. It was one of many fortuitous turns leading to
his arrival this year at GMVS. An avid skier, and father of two current Middlebury students, Dave and
his wife were excited to move north from Massachusetts, where Dave had been teaching at Westford
Academy for many years, and to turn their Valley ski house into their new full-time home. And we were
excited for him to bring his passion for science and engineering to campus.
Dave was hired to teach Physics and Algebra 2
classes in our curriculum, which he has done
seamlessly during this first year. But what has
been really exciting is the addition of Mechanical
Engineering to the students’ menu of advanced
science offerings.
The main concepts of the new course are
focused on the engineering design process:
the idea that you define your problem or
project, develop ideas, create a prototype,
test and evaluate it, and then “go back to the
drawing board” if the outcome does not meet
the project goals. The class covers a variety
of topics through projects designed to capture
students’ interests.
Some of the highlights include:
• The Bungee Jump Project: testing and
making mathematical models.
• The Folder Bridge Project: understanding
basic beam theory and the strength of
structures.
• The Electric Dragsters Project: learning
about gear ratios and power.
The Ski Engineering unit was, of course,
particularly relevant. Students tested their
own skis for vibration and stiffness, and many
were able to find measurable difference in the
vibration frequency of their old, used skis and
their new, race skis.
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