New London students build solar sprint car

The emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) studies has affected curriculum on all levels in today's schools. Students at New London learn to build a solar sprint car in the fifth grade as part of this effort, and friends Lilly Ott and Trinity Harlow have gotten very involved. They formed their own team (Team Waffles) and recently returned from national competition. They qualified for this honor by placing fourth in the Junior Solar Sprint Cars Competition May 8 at the New London Schools. In addition, they received a scholarship from the Technology Student Association (TSA) for the national competition in Orlando, Florida, which allowed them, their mothers and advisor Terrie Chase to make the trip June 26-30. Chase is retired after 36 years with the New London district as an elementary teacher and 2 as an elementary STEM coach. She now works part time as a STEM Coach, writing grants and bringing STEM projects to elementary classrooms. One of her duties has been to serve as advisor for Junior Solar Sprint. Each year several teams build cars in hopes of qualifying as one of the six teams attending the regional JSS meet. Lilly and Trinity (Team Waffles) were one of these teams. Chase says that fifth graders learn to build basic solar powered sprint cars, and teams that want more competition must stay after school to work on more advanced cars. She believes that building the cars and doing other STEM projects, "helps prepare students of all ages for real world problems. They learn to share their ideas and listen to others as they collaborate on projects, and they learn to persevere when faced with something that doesn't work, and keep on working. They grow in confidence and gain a sense of accomplishment as they work through problems. STEM gives students a problem-solving process that can be applied to everydaysituations, in addition to their school projects." Chase says that with over 9000 people from 48 states and beyond registered for the TSA Conference, the girls were part of something much bigger than they were used to. Although they did not make it to the finals, they ran a respectable time in the Junior Solar division and more importantly, were exposed to many new ideas and experiences. Lilly's mother Jennifer Ott agrees and adds, "They had good guidance and the experience was a confidence booster because they got to see how far their hard work could take them." When asked how they feel, the girls say, "joyful, excited, nervous, surprised and proud." Also, they are pleased they could tell their parents, "We actually did this." Although they did not place in Orlando, they say it was a great trip because of all the new ideas they got from classes and other teams. They are so excited about what they learned, they can hardly wait to improve their car and compete again next year. Junior Solar Sprint is part of the Northern Ohio Rural STEM Collaborative, a nonprofit organization of rural school districts and partners in northern Ohio who work to build a world-class K-16 STEMpipeline. It is assisted by the Army Educational Outreach Program.