Scorekeeper's Table

The idea for this project was initially proposed to me by my Water Polo coach in my Sophomore year, as he knew I was in Boy Scouts. Although I did not start my project for about another two years, I remembered his suggestion when I started the process of choosing a service project.

I wanted whichever project I chose to be important to me as well as my community. Since I spent so much time on the pool deck, and Water Polo has made a very positive impact in my life, I knew this project was a good fit for me.

One skill that I got to work on a lot during this project was communication. Needing to constantly gain design approval, coordinate work days, schedule meetings, and meet deadlines required me to improve in all areas of my communication skills. 

Before I could start my project, I needed approval by multiple parties. In addition to getting the green light from my client, I needed to also meet with adults from my troop leadership as well as adults in higher level committees. A combination of strong organization, background research, planning, proof of concept, and help from community members made this process relatively fast.

The planning of my project consisted of budgeting, listing of necessary supplies, background research, scheduling, and creating initial designs.

My design process consisted of two primary methods. The first was using a web based deck building service provided by Lowe's. This was mostly to help gain a better understanding of what would be necessary to create a solid build. The second, more prominent method of design was CAD. Specifically, I used Autodesk Inventor and the skills I learned from the Project Lead The Way course.

Some of the major design features were consolidating the base platform and the table, as the previous design was comprised of 4 platforms and a free moving folding table. Another major feature was the elevated design, which prevented Polo balls from getting stuck under the deck, and allowing for easy cleaning under the deck. Additionally, all materials that were used were either composites or treated and sealed. Finally, the design was painted with school colors and text saying "Los Altos Aquatics".

Gathering supplies was a lengthy and challenging process, requiring many trips to local hardware and home supply stores. 

Through the course of the project, I recorded hours, expenditures, and daily summaries of work days. All of this was a major aspect in my final project and how detailed the project was documented.

Since I wanted to finish my project before the start of the school year, the entirety of the assembly process took place in under a week. Many of these days I exceeded 6 hours, with some going over 10. 

Thankfully my house was only about two blocks from the highschool, so delivering the massive table would only require rolling it on dolleys. However, the closest entrance which was supposed to be opened was not, so the table had to be hauled along the alternate route.

The coach is very happy with the final product, and he has talked to me multiple times since about how much of an improvement it is. Although I am extremely pleased with how it turned out, what is more gratifying to me is the ability to walk through the school and point at physical proof of an improvement I made in my community.

Some key takeaways from this project for me were the dangers of procrastination, usefulness of spreadsheets and their capabilities, the importance of data collection and recording, and how critical it is to ensure physical measurements are correct.