Students get credit for racing

Racing cars on school grounds is generally frowned upon, but it was actually encouraged by the shop teacher at Plains School last week.

Nine students were involved in the race, which had been condoned by the school administration. Shop teacher Kyle Mitchell wasn't sure how fast the cars were traveling, but he guessed most of them were going about 40 mph by the time they hit the finish line. The five boys and four girls raced several times and when it was over, the champion was Tony Schaff in the car he called "Red Rocket." He attributed his victory to having the lightest vehicle of the bunch at 74.3 grams.

It was the Technical  Education Shop Class "CO2 Drag Race" on a 65-foot long track in the school's new gymnasium. Schaff raced four times, losing only once to second-place winner Kalem Ercanbrack, who had two losses.

The eighth graders competed over a three-day period in the double elimination contest. They ran into technical difficulties when the electronic starting device wouldn't work and the students had to manually hit a button to send off their cars, which meant relying on a visual finish decision. Fishing line was attached at the start and finish lines to keep the cars from veering off course. The cars had two eye lifts on the chassis bottom that held the line.

It took the students about two weeks to build their cars out of a foot-long piece of basswood. Once they got a design and painted their cars, they installed metal axles and plastic wheels. The cars had a hole at the rear for the CO2 cartridge. Hailie Tompkins had the longest car at 11.5 inches and had the heaviest one at 168.4 grams. She named her vehicle "Flower."

Steve Anderson initially cut his to 6.5 inches long, which was a half inch short of the minimum length. He had to add a small piece of wood to his car. He called his creation "Clap Trap" from the show "Borderlance." Anderson had some trouble on the first day of competition when he discovered his front eyelet was touching the floor and slowing his vehicle. He moved it twice.

Third place went to Madisyn Peele, followed by Kylan Bostick. The students had a few "grudge" matches after the official races. Schaff received bonus points as the champion, as did Kalli Tuma for having the best design for "Turbo," the snail character on the show of the same name. Her car was only a half of an inch wide at the narrowest point and she painted eyes on the snail's head. Peele also received additional points for the best paint design with her hummingbird look after the character "Flit" on the Disney movie "Pocahontas." 

Macey Malmend went with a brontosaurus look, painted red, and beat Tuma's snail in a fun heat. "I didn't really care if I won or not, as long as it made it to the other end," said Malmend. The students got 100% credit if their car made it to the finish line. Peele's hummingbird also defeated Turbo in a grudge match. Mitchell wasn't sure exactly how fast the cars were going. In the past, he has had a Plains police officer on hand with a radar gun to record the speeds. 

"With every project I try to teach them problem solving skills and perseverance," said Mitchell, who has conducted the races in his nine years at Plains School and during his 17 years at Kalispell Junior High. "This project helps to illustrate how lessons taught in other classes, such as science, math and English, are utilized in shop classes," he said, adding that they explore concepts in thrust, mass, friction, aerodynamics, design and measurements. "The class does have physics involved, but it's more learning by doing," said Mitchell. The rocket car project is only for eighth grade students, but he's also considering doing it with his high school students.

He said that most of the students did an excellent job and they all passed with the final test as the race. "There is a group within this class that is highly competitive and that makes competitions like this even more interesting," said Mitchell, who was pleased with the group's creativity and imagination. He was particularly impressed with the snail and hummingbird designs. Carter Goins glued eyes on the front of his gecko looking car. 

The students held a short evaluation session after the final race where Mitchell asked them for a general critique of their vehicles and what they would change. Schaff said he wouldn't change anything. He added that he was more happy with the winning bragging rights than the bonus points. He and Ercanbrack had similar designs, though Ercanbrack's car was slightly longer and more narrow in the center. Bostick believed his car had too much weight toward the back. Most said they would shave off some weight. 

"I'm trying to teach them that playing is the most important part and that failing can be as important as winning because you can learn by failing," said Mitchell. "This is one of those projects where students come back after years and talk about their CO2 cars."