Blooming In Nashville HSMT Magazine - Magazine - Page 26
From the
Rose Bowl With Love
Written By: Jay Thompson
Photos: Jay Thompson & Liane Dunn
al Poly universities’ “Jungle Jumpstart” rainforest
昀氀oat that showed how nature and technology
working together to create a better world received the
Sweepstakes Award at the 137th Rose Parade® held on a
rainy New Year’s Day.
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The prestigious honor — a 昀椀rst in the schools’ nearly eight
decades in the parade — honors the most beautiful 昀氀oat
overall and is typically won by larger, commercially built 昀氀oats
or major organizations, not by self-built entries that include
the California State University campuses.
“It’s really remarkable to win this award and celebrate it,
especially on this year’s theme,” Cal Poly Rose Float President
Aubrey Goings said after the awards were announced prior
to the parade. “We’re really just ecstatic, especially because
this year’s theme — ‘The Magic in Teamwork’ — and us
winning this is really celebrating our teamwork, how we get
together and make everything from scratch, learning from
each other.
“What sets us apart from some of the other parade
昀氀oats is how we built this truly from our hearts and
how we are telling our own story in the 昀氀oat through
the animals, working together on the robot — just like
us, with students from two universities and multiple
disciplines working together to support each other and
make something beautiful.”
Measuring 53 feet long, 25 feet high, and 18 feet wide,
“Jungle Jumpstart,” explores the 2026 parade theme by
showcasing the dynamics of a unique partnership through
the story of rainforest denizens restoring a 40-foot robot
friend.
The only parade 昀氀oat designed and built entirely by students
not only exudes teamwork in its appearance but also in its
construction. Cal Poly universities’ Rose Float is a joint
e昀昀ort between students at Cal Poly and at California State
Polytechnic University in Pomona.
The partnership reaches back nearly 80 years, when the
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Pomona school was 昀椀rst a satellite
campus of Cal Poly. Their e昀昀orts to
produce a rolling 昀氀oral bouquet to the
world is among the highest-pro昀椀le
student examples of Cal Poly’s hands-on,
Learn by Doing approach.
Student 昀氀oat leaders — about 30 from
each campus — came together in San
Luis Obispo early in 2025 to discuss
ideas. They were excited for the story of
the “old, rundown robot in the jungle, and
the forest animals bringing their friend
back to life by incorporating what they
know best — the jungle,” said Goings, a
