Dateline: March 23, 2015 – Lexington, KY.
Here we are, back at Rupp Arena and in the middle of the best hands-on education program in the Commonwealth of Kentucky; STLP™, the Student Technology Leadership Program. The Kentucky Department of Education’s Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP™) uses project-based learning principals to empower student learning and achievement through the utilization (and creation) of technology based solutions to school and community needs. This year’s event drew in over 6000 students to participate in a variety of events, and we had over 10,000 spectators, parents and teachers there too!
Racing to the Future™ participates in STLP™as part of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering Art and Math) oriented programs. Students racers in Racing to the Future™ purchase and improve an HO scale slot car, using the STEAM principles. There are two competitions within Racing to the Future™, the Design Competition and the Racing Competition.
The Design Competition: Student Racers from each age group, Elementary, Middle and High School, submit their entry for judging. The Student Racers also submit a technical document that explains what they did to their cars to improve performance or appearance. The technical document must also include why those improvements made a difference. For example, if a Student Racers changed the gears in the car, they would explain why that change made improvements by showing the gear ratio difference and where they would attain top speed on the track. This covers the “Math” and “Engineering” components of STEAM. The same process for explaining paint or decal work to improve the appearance would be included to incorporate the “Art” aspects of STEAM. The judges use the following criteria to review each Student Racer’s entry:
- A. Internal Detail (0-10 points) – General appearance, neatness, realism of driver, roll cage or bar, and dashboard along with any other interior details will be considered here.
- B. Exterior Detail (0-10 points) – Areas to be considered include mirrors, numbering, lettering, decals, headlights, bumpers, engines, and any other exterior detail.
- C. Paint and Finish (0-10 points) – Quality of the paint, neatness of the application of the paint to the body and evenness of the coat will be considered here.
- D. Chassis (0-25 points) – General appearance of the work done and neatness will be considered here.
- E. Overall Impression (0-20 points) – Realism and the general aesthetic quality of the car will be considered here. Scale replicas and original paint schemes of equal quality shall be given equal consideration.
- F. Documentation (0-25 points) – Presentation of car design and changes made to improve performance. Details of documentation, presentation of ideas and understanding of the math and science behind the performance of their entry will be key components of scoring high in this portion of the Design Competition.
We also have the attending public vote on which car they think is best in appearance. The entry with the highest vote count gets a 10 point bonus to be added to their total judging score. We award 1st and 2nd place for each of the age groups.
The Racing Competition: Student Racers from each age group, Elementary, Middle and High School, race their entries on an HO scale quarter mile drag strips. Each Student Racer runs one pass against each student in their group. The Student Racer with the highest number of wins determines first place in the competition. Ties are broken by referring to the race between the tied racers and the winner of their past race is declared the winner of the tie. We award 1st and 2nd place in each age group.
First Thing in the Morning: We started packing all of the prizes, track and everything else we use the night before and left out for Rupp Arena at 5:00 AM that morning. We almost had enough room to drive! (See car photo below). Once at Rupp, we unloaded and started getting the sound system, track and computers set up. It takes us about 2 hours to get it all ready for the Student Racers that will be coming through the doors at 9:00 AM.
Well how about that! It all fit…but can I get in to drive???
Here we have the track, sound and computer displays all set up and ready to start.
We have some fantastic sponsors for Racing to the Future™
The Student Racers get some serious prizes for their efforts
2015 Racing to the Future Student Racers and Their Entries
Elementary School Competition:
Cora Beth Collins
Kaylee McCarty
Beau Clark
Tyler Turner
Riley Hunter
Sydney Shelby
Kaia Lewis
Kaleigh Fish
Hailey Thompson
J. J. Essex
James Lucas
Emmanuel Gonzales
Ezra Pitcock
Maegan Hale
Drew Lanz
Terry Moore
Middle School Competition:
Tanner Cornish
Channing Preston
Stan Shelby
Noah Hurst
Breanna Flora
Blake McKibben
Logan Davidson
Elizabeth Scott
Alayna Collins
Jonah Ford
Logan Sanders
Tristan Cundiff
Dilan Maxey
Jake Konow
Chidoze Igwe
High School Competition:
Jacob Able
Jared Hunt
Jerome Brown
Kevin Mestre
Trey Yeager
Kimberly Taylor
Jacob Coleman
James Crain
Kaleb King
Faith Rowlett
Judging the Design Competition:
Everyone is watching as the judges do their thing.
I think they are ready to get their ballot and vote for their favorite too!
Elementary School Racing to the Future™ Design Champions for 2015!
1st Place: Kaleigh Fish (Left) 2nd Place Maegan Hale (Right)
Middle School Racing to the Future™ Design Champions for 2015!
1st Place: Dilan Maxey (Right) 2nd Place Stan Shelby (Left)
High School Racing to the Future™ Design Champions for 2015!
1st Place: Faith Rowlett (Right) 2nd Place James Crain(Left)
The Racing Competition:
2015 Racing to the Future™ Elementary School Student Racers
This may be our youngest bunch of Student Racers but they are serious contenders…
Okay, when they are at the starting line they are serious, the rest of the time…
They are having a blast!
2015 Racing to the Future™ Middle School Student Racers
The Middle School Student Racers were pretty focused, on and off the track.
As you can see, we generate quite the crowd of on lookers,
some cheering for their favorite Student Racer!\
2015 Racing to the Future™ High School Student Racers
The High School Student Racers Came to race this year and left it all on the track.
Most of these Student Racers have been in the Racing to the Future™ program since we started, waaaay back in 2009, seven STLP events ago! One of the seniors even had his own fan club cheering each time he was called to the starting line! Is that cool or what!
Racing to the Future™ Racing Competition Champions for 2015!
Elementary School Racing to the Future™ Racing Champions for 2015!
1st Place: Emmanuel Gonzales (Left) 2nd Place: Ezra Pitcock (Right)
Middle School Racing to the Future™ Racing Champions for 2015!
1st Place: Jonah Ford (Left) 2nd Place: Stan Shelby (Right)
High School Racing to the Future™ Racing Champions for 2015!
1st Place: Jerome Brown (Right) 2nd Place: Jacob Coleman (Left)
The Awards Ceremony:
This year we had a couple of “firsts” for Racing to the Future™.
All of the winners were able to stay for the awards ceremony, so we had the full field on stage!
And we had our first repeat champion, Jonah Ford!
Each of our Racing Champions’ schools will display the AFX Champion’s Trophy for the year!
And we had some on-stage celebrations…
All of our 1st and 2nd place winners receive prizes from our generous sponsors!
This year we had new sponsors in Hardin Creek Slot Cars and Viper Racing.
They sent T-shirts, hats and 2 very nice competition cars with custom painted bodies.
We drew names from the entry lists and Jacob Coleman and Logan Davidson
won the cars. We also drew names and handed out the T-shirts and hats.
AFX also sent us a bunch of T-shirts that went to our Student Racers.
The Racing to the Future™ Team:
Our new judging organizer, Rob Grissom And our Quiz Queen, Pat Seay (Left) / Emily Shoemaker – Gopher and photographer (Right)
Jessica Abbott – Race Official (Left) / Dan Gorman – Race Official and Starting Judge (Center) and Paul Shoemaker – Program Director (Right)
John Hornbeck – Judge and Resources (Left) / Mark Vaughn – Judge and Sound System (Center) / Stan Shelby – Racer Support and Parts (Right)
The Racing to the Future™ Sponsors:
As always, we want to thank our generous sponsors that help make this such a successful program.
AFX has been a supporter of Racing to the Future™ from day one. They sponsor the AFX Racing to the Future Champion’s Trophy that is awarded each year, along with race sets and T-shirts that are awarded as part of the prize packages.
Auto World has been a supporter of Racing to the Future™ from 2009. They supply the race sets and other items that are awarded as part of the prize packages. They have also supplied parts and cars for our recruiting program that visits schools, science fairs and other activities.
Speed Inc.™ is the founder of Racing to the Future™ in 2008. They support and maintain the Speed Inc.™ and Racing to the Future™ websites, create the content and help organize and direct the program. Speed Inc.™ has also promoted Racing to the Future™ to other states and countries. They have also supplied parts and cars for our recruiting program that visits schools, science fairs and other activities.
Bud’s HO Cars Inc. has been a sponsor of Racing to the Future since 2010. They have supplied parts and cars for our recruiting program that visits schools, science fairs and other activities, as well as prizes for our championship events. Bud’s has also been a great source for parts and supplies, offering discounts to our Student Racers over the years.
Hardin Creek Slot Cars and Viper Scale Racing are brand new sponsors to Racing to the Future™ for 2015. Stan Shelby introduced Racing to the Future™ to these two great new sponsors and they jumped on board, full throttle. They provided a great package of prizes in cars, parts, tools, T-shirts and hats. We look forward to a great future with them and welcome them to the Racing to the Future™ family!
Racing to the Future™ would like to thank all of the great folks that make Kentucky STLP such a wonderful program to be a part of. Jeff Sebulsky, Director of KY STLP, and David Couch, Associate Commissioner of KDE/KIDS have been tireless promoters and supporters of STLP and all of the benefits the program brings to Kentucky students.
We look forward to the next year of activities and will be visiting several seminars, schools and other organizations, bringing the Racing to the Future™ program to more Student Racers.
Congratulations to all of 2015’s Champions and we’ll see you at the starting line!
-Paul Shoemaker
Director/Owner:
Racing to the Future™
Speed Inc.™