North Texas high school team to compete in global challenge with solar car
A group of North Texas students is gearing up to represent Texas and the United States in a unique global competition, where they will put their solar-powered car up against teams from around the world.
The Greenville High School Solar Car Team earned a spot in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a race across Australia.
"We are the only high school team from the United States that will be competing," said Joel Pitts, an engineering teacher at Greenville High School and lead advisor to the team. "Six months ago, this car didn't exist, and this is a testament to how hard these students have worked."
The team of 20-25 high schoolers has helped build the entire car from start to finish.
"It's just excitement and joy and it's really cool to see a project like that come together and go from the drawing board and the CAD to then the mold getting printed and then the body, and now it's here on the road, ready to go," said Ethan Kiowaski, a 15-year-old sophomore at Greenville High School.
Ethan doesn't have his driver's license yet, but he's getting ready to drive it nearly 2,000 miles across Australia.
"Oh, it's fun," he said. "It can also be scary at times."
The team's car will compete against teams from universities around the globe in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. They'll travel the outback in vehicles powered only by the energy of the sun, driving by day and camping in the desert at night, in a race to the finish line.
"It seriously is a once in a lifetime thing," said Nicolas Gonzalez, a sophomore at Greenville High School. "I'm going to be able to tell my kids, I went to Australia as a high schooler and competed in a solar car race."
Greenville is hoping for a top ten finish, but 16-year-old Kenleigh Myers says no matter how the competition goes, she's gained invaluable experience.
"I've learned so much about myself and how to handle other people because, no, you're not going to get along with everybody and you're not going to like everybody," Myers said. "Being able to work with them is something that you're going to need in the real world always."
Their teachers say lessons in teamwork, problem solving and creativity will set the kids up for success in whatever career they pursue.
"It just kind of makes you learn to adapt to anything that you have to do," said Gonzalez.
They can't wait to put that hard work to the ultimate test on a global stage.
"We're going to show that even as 15 and 16 year olds, like, we can build something just as great," said Myers.
The team is putting the finishing touches on their solar car before it ships out to Australia in early May. The race will take place in August.
