I'm an elementary school teacher. I was able to get funding to start an electric go kart club at my school. We go through lessons on basic driving skills, race rules, and track etiquette. Hopefully I'm helping to build the next generation of gear heads! As a fun note, my girls lap the boys regularly
Where were all the teachers like you when I was in elementary school??? You’re seriously the best.
Missing. It's why I want to be the teacher I never had. Not pictured in this sub is the 9 teams that I'm taking to robotics competition this Saturday. I get paid to play!
And thank you.
In my experience complaining and blaming everything on administration and parents, and defending shitty teachers. Maybe I shouldn’t work with teachers anymore.
Where my grandson goes to school they can’t even afford basic necessities. I just got him into in electric karts. Kids need other interests because not everyone is athletic or interested in music. Good for you
I’ve got the exact same kart but it came with a small gasser. My wife and I swapped a 212 predator from harbor freight into it last spring only to find that our son doesn’t fit anymore. Thinking of getting a welder to stretch the frame another foot.
So one way I got to sneak this in was "future of the industry" and teaching basics of electrical engineering. I'd love to get one gas powered one in the same chassis to do some comparison testing.
Can either stretch the frame or shrink your kid....
Bruh my school was too broke to buy balls for the tetherball poles
Money is out there if people really care to hunt. I've been able to pull in several sponsorships for our robotics teams and I've picked up over $4,000 in grants for various clubs and projects. It's not easy, it takes a lot of time, and it's a thankless thing often. But I taught for 7 years, left for 3 and then realized just how much I missed teaching. I came back with a mission! 5 years in and I'm pretty darn happy.
This is so cool. Giving the kids practical skills early. I know reading, writing, etc are also practical, but...ya know.
The amount of people on the road today that severely need etiquette lessons was sky high. Source: drove 60 miles of Highway 1 today. So I very much agree this training should start this young.
That is great. Interesting that Reddit has your post right after one about teachers in Pa.
I feel very fortunate after seeing what some teachers in other states go through. My county is not big and not wealthy, but we make some great things happen.
Im actually in the Philly School District and in 7th grade. I can confirm, things aren't that great and some of the lower tier high schools are straight up dangerous and horrible. I pass by one of the high schools when going back and from school and there's always a few police officers at that school. And I've also had students arrested in my school. Overall, the district is really underfunded and just bad parenting.
So weird that the firearm thing is big among elementary school students. Must be a Sandy Hook thing, where they fear an outside attack (cause we know 7 year olds are not up to full scale school shootings...)
Yay! My city is in the news!
As a parent that doesn’t attend your school and as a person that was once a kid and a student I really respect and appreciate this. Hats off to you my good man. Have a great life. :)
What karts are those?
Some cheap Go Bowen Amazon karts. It's actually been a great learning experience for the kids as some wiring and labeling was wrong, bolt holes didn't line up, and parts were missing. We've had to really be engineers. Kids any bigger than 5th graders are never going to fit though!
If you want to get rid of the disparity of men and women in mechanical fields, saying things like "the girls lap the boys regularly" is gonna have to go too.
Indeed it is. Thank you.
That is so cool. One day of those kids is going to be a famous racecar driver and when they win formula One they will have you to thank for igniting their passion .
I hope so! But I'll be happy with a kid that can change their own tire and oil as well!
It's because people like you that the world will be a better place, keep on going and if we can get involved in helping you, count us in.
I think this is brilliant. It'll make the kids appreciate what they have, and massively improve their driving skills for the future when they start driving on the roads.
You’re an incredible educator . I honestly would have thrived with someone like you as a teacher .
Gooooood gooooood let the mentorship flow through you.
LOL
Badass. You sound like an awesome teacher.
Would it be due to their weight compared to the boys?
In reality it could, but I have some tiny 4th grade boys and some larger 5th grade girls. If anything, most of my girls should be at the disadvantage. In initial runs, the girls had better spacial awareness and car control.
We need more teachers like you
Thank you.
Hope you make some fake city courses to teach them about right of way, indicators and all that stuff
Good call. We do have crosswalks and things I can start incorporating into the track challenge.
Man you are a godly teacher i wish i had u when i was a kid
That's awesome! I wish this was more common, driving skills are super important on and off the track. Not to mention it's great practice for quick decision making and focus. I'm curious how you secured funding for that, seems like it's hard enough to keep libraries in schools.
I'm good at grant writing. My principal pretty much let's me go crazy with projects and clubs so long as I can find the money. Luckily, STEM is hot right now and people are throwing money my way!
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The girls are constantly underestimated simply because they are girls. We SHOULD expect that gender plays no role, but we have a lot of hurdles to overcome still.
This is too cool! You’re amazing for doing this
You're doing good work
Best teacher ever
That is definitely an Atlanta-ish area school. I can smell the floor cleaner from here.
This seems like a relatively inexpensive way to teach what your teaching and let the kids have an awesome time learning! Wish you had been my teacher.
My college is having a go kart competition, we wanted to go All Wheel Drive but apparently three phase alternators as motors can get quite expensive
Wow do I wish I was 10 again
This is the coolest thing ive ever seen a teacher do. Keep it up, the youth needs you
This truly brought the biggest smile to my face. The world needs more people like you. Kids in your district are truly lucky you chose the path of teaching!
You one of the coolest teachers in the world.
This is so great, i know i would have loved this back in school (and still would).
That’s awesome to hear, considering my local community college just eighty-sixed the automotive program. I was one of the last grads.
Formula W racers in the making
You’re the teacher I wish I had. Maybe I would’ve shown up more haha
Me to!
you are the reason I wished I had become a teacher. i coached youth soccer and understand the satisfaction you can receive from giving back to kids. awesome
It's really tough a lot of the time, and I've held easier jobs that pay more; however, the reward when kids get it it just so great.
You're awesome
As a track junky & Motorsport & NASCAR fan from northern NJ I wish I had this....good job teach !
This is awesome. I would have loved this so much.
This kind of thing is very important for the sport. Also to diversify the field with drivers who don’t necessarily come from wealthy backgrounds.
Powerracingseries.org
I'll look into it, thanks! Can you pm me this? This whole thing has kind of unexpectedly blown up and I done want to lose this in the comments.
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They are just Go Bowen karts from Amazon. They are certainly not the most high quality builds out there, but that is okay for us. Everything that goes wrong we use as a new lesson.
That's awesome!!!
God damn my parents wouldn't even take me to a go kart track when I was a kid. I wish I had you at my school!
That's fucking amazing, doing God's work out here
Equip one cart with a Power Flash XHP70 flashlight to educate em on tailgating and headlight courtesy!
Oh wow... that is soooo awesome :)
This is legendary
I love this! I wish everywhere would do this.
humansbeingbros
This is freaking awesome! Great job Teach!
This is apsolutly beautiful, we have formula student at pentacareer center were we(the students) actually build a race car and also learn the driving skills and race skills, so glad to see it in an elementary, 👏
"apsolutely"?
Best teacher of all time. ALL TIMe!
A hero in my book
Best teacher ever
Excellent all the way around.
Clarkson approved. Get girls in go karts!
Outstanding! You are making the future highways a safer place.
Let's hope so!
Reckless girls lol
Good name for their team there!
"My girls lap the boys regularly"
Nice work man. Are you going to teach them about the mechanics and maintenance of the karts too? You might have some future mechanics on your hands and I bet they’ll care more about the rides than traffic rules.
I'll have to. These karts are not the highest quality. I've already got extra batteries and motors in a wish list to pick up with future grants. I know they will kick the bucket before to long.
Would love to know how you accomplished getting funding for this from point A to Z
PM me, I'm happy to give away all secrets to see more people doing more things. My biggest grants have come from the Wal Mart community grants though.
How many gears do they have?
Yes. LOL. Single forward, single reverse. I wish I could have afforded ones with gears. It does have settings for low, medium, and high though.
I’d love to get my son into this. Do you have a go kart recommendation? I love the idea of electric
I went with the ones that I could afford given the money from the grant. 😁 I didn't really have a huge options list.
Super cool! Isn't it a liability risk though? (Not that I care and it wouldn't be a problem where I'm from, but since you're in the States?)
I ran it up through all the channels I was required to. Honestly I could not believe it passed. I even have approvals in writing just to be sure I'm covered.
If you were in Middle school, I'd say tag in with the robotics club....
I taught middle school for 7 years. I loved it. I never thought I'd be teaching elementary school, but have found it to be great fun most of the time! I used to funnel my feeder elementary schools onto our robotics programs. It was great because after a while, they ran themselves.
Where did you get funding for this? How did you convince the school to assume this much liability?
PM me and I'll happily give away all the secrets. Lots of small grants add up though. As far as liability, the county approved it and I'm honestly surprised as much as most it was okay-ed.
Thank you all for the support! Thank you all for the kind words and questions. Thank you also to the naysayers and negative Nancy's.
Why would you make note of girls lapping boys? You could use the inverse since you didn’t say “always”. Really had to bring in gender? That ruined it for me. Great job anyway!
Wow this is so cool! Always wanted to do this in elementary, keep up the great work:))
Because girls follow instructions better
These girls are just out to prove a point. Most of the girls actually have family that own shops or race on weekends. Most of my boys don't.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted, it's the same reason females learn shooting skills and rock climbing much faster than males.
That’s cool and all...but there’s lots of schools that can’t afford books for their kids. Just sayin’.
And if I was there I'd work just as hard to ensure those kids had more opportunity. I wish more did that. We are a title 1 school, in a title 1 district. This means that a majority of our students are on free and reduced lunch. This club, as well as my 3D printing club, and robotics clubs are all free. I am adamant that none of our kids and families should have to pay for these things. We have large businesses in the community I am constantly taking with and I apply for lots of grants that cover all costs.
We’ve already been through the whole boys posing as girls deal with running, now we see it on the track. Lol
Nah. As far as this goes, when they put on a helmet and harness it doesn't matter.
Why would it matter if the boys or girls is faster?
Yeah, because actually educating the kids would be too tough and cheap to do. Let's waste time and money on this in our schools.
None of the tax payers money is used in this activity. It is all through grants and sponsorships. I'm sorry you can't find the real world application of physics, engineering, and math in this activity. Not to mention the practical, hands on skills that these kids are learning in regards to car control and maintenance. What you fail to see is the classroom time where we go over ratios, temperature variations and melting points, and electrical circuit diagrams. It is this kind of comment that keeps education stagnant. Education is dynamic and every evolving.
It’s Rushmore IRL!
I may be 16 but may I join this club?
Truly doing gods work
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Cuz that’s what I would do