The Garden City Telegram
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Students, start your engines...
Published 4/10/2008 in News : Area coverage
By EMILY BEHLMANN
ebehlmann@gctelegram.com
SCOTT CITY -- The rain showers didn't bring lightning to Scott City on Wednesday, but the parking lot of the municipal airport was still electrified.
Students from about a dozen Kansas high schools spent the day zooming around a race track in electric cars they designed and constructed for the Kansas ElectroRally hosted by Scott Community High School.
The single-driver, lightweight, aerodynamic cars are powered by battery packs, and they can reach speeds of more than 30 mph or travel at least 25 miles in a one-hour period, according to the event Web site. At the rally, racers must complete as many laps as possible in one hour.
Nikki Pfannenstiel, who works in member services for Sunflower Electric Power Corp., said the program begins in schools, but is supported by Kansas electric cooperatives and volunteers.
It provides a lot of good opportunities for students, she said.
"They get to build a car from scratch, then have an avenue where they can race it," she said.
Chuck Ellis is the one who guides Scott Community High School students from "scratch" to racing day in the school's Design Discovery class.
"This is an applications class," the art teacher said. "You have to put your theories into practice and prove it works in front of everyone else."
The class motto is "Dream, develop, demonstrate," Ellis said.
The dreaming involves researching different ways to build cars, and figuring out what skills and materials students have available to them. Many of the rally's cars are pieced together with parts like bicycle wheels, and Ellis said the Scott City group buys little more than the motor.
The developing is the work that consumes the rest of the time leading up to races held in Great Bend and Scott City.
Scott Community High School junior Andrew Buckner said it takes a lot of work to develop all the plans for a car, build it and make sure it works. Still, his team was able to assemble two this school year to join the two also raced on Wednesday that previous classes had built.
The race itself takes skill and thought, too, students said.
"You don't want to lay into it at the beginning and not have enough battery to finish," said Corey Moomaw, who drove one of Dighton High School's two cars.
His team mostly worked on their cars outside of class, though many participants are those involved in Dighton's automotive class, who could end up working with electric cars on the job, said Alan Berndt, industrial arts teacher at Dighton High School.
Pfannenstiel said participants in the rally can pick up skills that might be useful to them when they enter the workforce. They're learning about engineering, technology and mechanics, and they have to submit a report on their work that is graded by faculty at Fort Hays State University, she said.
"It helps the industry to be tapping into the minds of youngsters," she said. "If we get them involved, some may go on to be engineers."
James Ward, a senior at Dighton, said the experience has helped him learn about the fundamentals of electricity and energy conservation.
The first Kansas ElectroRally was held in 1997, and it has grown to become one of the largest high school electric car races in the country, according to organizers. Races are sanctioned by the national oversight body, ElectrathonTM America, and vehicles are built under the group's guidelines.
In October, students will have the chance to race their electric cars at a race at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Ellis said.
Results of Wednesday's race were not available this morning.
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