Students work hard to turn in winning 'paper'
Cheering their cars on as if they were competing in the Indianapolis 500, 10th- through 12th-graders in technical drawing classes at Pine-Richland and North Hills high schools learned that precision is the key to winning the race, especially when the cars are made out of stiff paper and don't have engines.
The 16th annual Paper Car Championship was conducted last week in the cafeteria at North Hills Senior High School. The event featured 23 competitors -- 11 from Pine-Richland and 12 from North Hills.
Designed to teach the students about surface development and mechanical engineering, the project consisted of students from each school designing and building seven four-wheel, two-axle vehicles out of 8 1/2-by-11-inch card stock and a 15-inch-long section of quarter-inch wooden dowel rod. The vehicles were judged on time and distance.
With their "fans" on the sidelines cheering them on, the competitors stood by the top of the 16-foot-long, three-lane race track elevated to about 40 degrees and waited for the signal to release their vehicles.
Students made sure their vehicles were lined up in a straight line to avoid the pitfall of hitting the tables and chairs in the cafeteria.
Designs of the vehicles ranged from a bus to sleek race cars.
Willie Vitous, 18, a senior at North Hills, modeled his entry after a Plymouth Voyager. "Aerodynamically, mine wasn't as sleek as the others and didn't do as well, but it looked cool," he said.
Evin Harpur thought "smaller is better," and modeled his car after a toy Matchbox car. "For the size, it did excellent," said Harpur, 17, a Pine-Richland senior.
Michael Rainey-Wiles was disappointed that his vehicle didn't make it to the track. "My car was too big, so I couldn't enter it," said Rainey-Wiles, 16, a North Hill's sophomore.
Matt Nebel, a Pine-Richland senior, said he didn't do so well because he made his car at the last minute.
"It worked, but the secret was to take the time to design the car" on the Computer Assisted Design system, said Nebel, 17.
Taking the time to design precision vehicles resulted in Angela Hoeltje, a senior at Pine-Richland and Ben Bourdon, a junior at North Hills, earning the 2004 Paper Car Championship titles for their respective schools.
"The key was to make sure the body of the car had more weight to keep it on the road (so) it wouldn't flip. It was important to take time on the little parts, like the axle and wheels," said Bourdon, 16, who won first place with a winning distance of 89 feet in three runs.
Hoeltje, 17, said she thinks her vehicle won because it was lighter than most. "It was my first time competing, and it was a fun learning experience," said Hoeltje, whose vehicle went 37 feet in three runs.
Four years ago, North Hill's annual Paper Car Championship incorporated other schools into the race. Technical education teachers Brandt Hutzel, of Pine-Richland, and Jim Cassandro, of North Hills, were the team leaders at this year's event.
"The competition was not only fun and educational, but it inspired the students to put more effort into their projects, knowing others would be watching," Cassandro said.
