Collision Repair WOWs! at World of Wheels
For over a dozen years, World of Wheels has sponsored Student Career Day; in conjunction with convention, Summit Racing Equipment also sponsored the Pedal Car Challenge. Once again, our LCCTC Collision Repair students jumped at the chance to not only attend but to also enter their own work in the PC Challenge. This year — their shop motto, “Hard work always pays off,” came to life, and in a truly big way!
As part of the Pedal Car Challenge, our Collision Repair shop received a pedal car from Summit Racing Equipment. Their task? To create a design, customize the car as they see fit, and display their final product for the public exhibition. The obstacle to face this year was daunting: Over a 1000 great ideas from a 1000 skilled students — all with the with dream of returning to their schools with a first place car. In all, there were 12 pedal cars who entered the Challenge in the stock class.
Here, Collision Repair instructor Evan Banner tells of the process:
At the beginning, You could almost see the steam coming from their ears as they brainstormed idea after idea after idea. They set their goals high saying, “We have to win this year!”
Knowing they were all in to capture the attention of the judges, the kids decided to order Metal Flake in a couple different colors to try on a few test panels. Instantly, kids were hooked.
It was then time to design a paint scheme to really catch everyone's attention. Senior Bailey Eaton suggested, “What about the theme, ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’?” Excited, the class agreed and set their sights to make this vision come to life.
Finally, the students laid out the diamond pattern; it took about ten times to get it just right. After all, I teach the kids that preparation is everything because if we’re going to do something, we need to do it right the first time — this way, there would be little waste.
The students went into the paint booth and sprayed the Metal Flake on the one side. Excited with the outcome, they all were pleased. When they sprayed the Flake on the other side, it was even better.
Then it seemed that disaster struck: When we stepped back and looked at what we thought might be the final product, it just didn’t have that “POP!” that we were looking for.
Bailey admits, “We did have a few setbacks along the way. However, we were able to put our heads together and find creative solutions.” A large part of the process was teamwork, an employable skill vital for students to learn in the industry; under Mr. Evan Banner’s leadership, the teamwork needed for this project brought the students closer together because they all had a similar purpose: To get the job done and done well.
Senior Shawn Farabaugh said, “We have to do something; we need a ‘WOW"‘ factor,” and the team agreed.
“He was the one to come up with the idea to spray a little more gold metal flake on the green and black side and aqua blue on the other,” Banner credits. “He sold the team on his idea, we all agreed, and thankfully, it worked — ‘POW’!”
After that, the car became known as 2Face.
Although the Pedal Car Team was pleased with the outcome, they knew they needed one more all-important approval. Excited with their final product, when the students ran to grab Ms. Houk, and all it took was one look from this beloved shop aid. She beamed a grin from ear to ear and exclaimed, “That's a winner for sure!”
“In the end,” Bailey acknowledges, “we decided that our adjustments would not include a plan take the easy way out; we wanted our final product to become the best possible product, and that took a lot of hard work. In the end, I’m really proud of what we were able to do — together.”
“As a teacher,” Mr. Banner adds, “the best moment is watching the kids work so hard from deciding on a design, working through the good and the bad, and achieving such a big goal. Even with the excitement of intense competition, I’d say that they met and exceeded their goal.” They came. They saw. They conquered.
In the process of preparing the pedal car, the CR students learned many lessons. For senior Bailey Eaton, this year was special: “Over the last three years, I’ve learned a lot. I’m especially proud of the end-result of our pedal car,” she states. “It’s exciting to see a plain pedal car go from nothing to something.”
The final step in this journey of hands-on experience is an actual trip to World of Wheels on Friday, January 24th. This interactive experience allowed our CR students to participate in a positive and valuable “hands-on” experience. Students were also able to meet with industry experts eager to share their passion for the industry as well as offer insights on possible career avenues.
Afterward, our students were able to preview the show before the convention opened to the public on the following day. Students were able to meet with the actual car owners, get hands-on with the exhibits, and meet with representatives from local tech schools and colleges to discuss their programs and scholarship opportunities. Of course, one of the big highlights was to see their own pedal car on display. Often times in traditional education, student work is only completed with a single audience — a teacher — in mind; however, in the Pedal Car Challenge, the intended audience is dramatically multiplied by thousands as their final product becomes part of the World of Wheels convention
And then, after they returned home to LCCTC, it was time to wait for the results.
Excited to get a jump on the results, junior CR Pedal Car Team member Ben DiCola woke up early on Saturday morning traveled to the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh for the public viewing and made a bee-line to the Pedal Car exhibit.
There, he found that the final results of the Pedal Car Challenge was well-worth the wait. Something had been attached to the steering wheel inside of the cab
— something blue
— the most beautiful blue any hard-working student who entered a Pedal Car Challenge could imagine.
DiCola took a picture and sent it to his teammates and teacher, and after confirmation, soon the good news spread like wildfire. Gracing the wheel of Lawrence County’s pedal car was A FIRST PLACE RIBBON!!
COLLISION REPAIR HAD WON!!!
CONGRATULATIONS Collision Repair! We are all incredibly proud of you!
We are rising!
