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I ran across this story on the
Electric
Dreams Blog recently and was impressed.
Promoting Student Achievement Through Slot Car Racing!
An Elementary School Teacher with over 30 years experience,
grows increasing frustrated with what he sees in the classroom…
Well this teacher is a fan of Slot Cars and Slot Car Racing, so he
gets a bright idea. Use slot cars and slot car racing as a reward
for students who keep at least a “C” average and as a teaching
tool at the same time.
So, just like that,
Slot car racing comes to Linton Elementary School
Slot car racing is the newest thing at the Linton-Stockton
Elementary School.
The project — which was funded through a state prevention grant
and also made possible through hours of volunteer work — is the
idea of Dan Thorlton, a long-time fifth-grade teacher at LSES.
The massive race track — dubbed “The Beast” — is 100 feet
around and is located in the school’s basement — which is also the
home of the fifth-grade club Racing to Success.
Thorlton, also known as Mr. T to students, shed light on the
colossal project and the club during the meeting of the School
Board.
“Folks we’re on the map with this thing,” he said, adding that
the school is among just a handful of schools across the nation
with such a track.
To be a member of Racing to Success, students must maintain a
75 percent — C average, be a good person and show good
sportsmanship, he noted.
“More than one-half of the fifth grade signed up (for the
club). It’s only open to fifth graders,” he said.
What needs to be taught is how to deal with real-life
frustration and the fact that you will not always be number one.
Acquiring the skill to be a gracious winner or loser is being
replaced with the “in your face” attitude being displayed by the
very role models children look up to.
Admittedly, I have always been challenged as an educator to
find new and innovative ways to impart these critical values to my
students and reflecting back on my youth, I realized that my
life-long interest in slot car racing can be an effective teaching
tool in the school environment.
In fact, slot car racing has literally spread across the
generations. It is very possible that grand-dad played wih them as
a youngster and I firmly believe the slot car connection would
give family members a common ground.
So, what can slot car racing teach to a young mind? Curricula
such as science and math are obvious applications. Additionally,
subjects like language arts come into play with research being
focused on the history of slot car racing. Other topics also
revolve around actual race venues throughout the world including
F1 racing in Europe.
Slot car racing provides applications for almost any
topic one might imagine.
For instance, if a child has an interest in art, he or she can
design and construct dioramas as scenery for a track. Designing
paint schemes and decals created on the computer can be applied to
individualize a students car. If a child is “hands on” he or she
might even construct a chassis made of popsicle sticks and a motor
from an electric toothbrush. The encouragement of a creative mind
is a powerful component of learning.
Read more about this creative teacher and how he is not only
introducing Slot Cars and Slot Car Racing to a new generation, but
helping them grow as well.
Source:
Back to Slot Car Reading
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